Children of Prophecy
by turtlerad17
Summary: Being the planet's last Cetra is a bitter idea to the wandering herbalist Aeris. Not only does she have all of humanity out for her blood, but the man who is prophized to love her wants her dead as well. AS COMPLETE.
1. Run out of town

**Children of Prophecy**

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7. The storyline and original characters of this fic I do how ever.

Ch.1- Run out of town

The young herb seller in a faded blue dress was packing up for the day. Her medicines that she made herself from herbs collected in the wild ranged from simple salves and teas for cuts, bruises and the yearly colds and flues that always seem to come around this time of year, to complex potions help stop internal bleeding and speed the mending of broken bones. She shivered as a cold wind brushed down the streets of Couldren, causing the frayed hem of her dress to lift up a few inches. Winter was coming soon and she knew that she needed to sell enough of her medicines so that she could pay for food and lodging in the town she was staying in.

For the last five years she had been wandering from town to town selling her wares, never staying in one place for more than a few months. The current town she was staying in had no special attributes that appealed to her other than it was there and had cheap housing. The market for her medicines was rather moderate, seeing as there were not many elderly, pregnant women, or children that easily got sick in this town. It was a military town made up of mostly common off-duty soldiers and stout, sturdy women who could usually hold their own with any of the soldiers. The most common of her wares that she had sold in this town were teas with herbs reduce inflammation and slaves to reduce bruising, typical results of bar brawls.

As the wind picked up again young woman pulled her shawl closer and starting walking faster to the boarding house that she had rented a room in. While she was walking by a short, narrow alley between a blacksmith and a carpenter's workshop, she heard the muffled sounds of a young child crying. Being a compassionate and caring person at heart she naturally followed the quiet sobs of the child in need. Squinting her eyes to try to see in the semi-darkness the as she entered the alley, the herbalist almost missed the small form huddled between two wooden crates. Approaching the small child she wrinkled her nose as she caught the smell of blood, both fresh and dried. She stooped down so she could get a better look at the injured child. Her eyes widened as she saw the four inch long gash on the young girl's arm, it was so deep that it almost hit the bone.

Quickly she glanced around, to make sure that no one would notice what she was doing, she held her hands over the girl's injured arm and started humming softly. Soon a soft green glow began to come out of the young lady's hands and the deep cut on the girl's arm slowly closed up, leaving a thin brown scab in its place. Astonished pale green eyes looked up into worried emerald green ones. As they gazed into each other's eyes the little girl started to relax, a shy tentative smile forming on her face.

"Thank you," she quietly murmured, her gaze dropping to the ground. She started fidgeting as the young herb seller was examining her wound to make sure that it was properly healed.

"So what is such a nice girl like you doing huddling between two crates in an alley?" the herbalist asked.

"When me and my Mommy were buying food at the market today, a group of no good, noisy boys came up and were causing trouble for the man that Mommy was buying carrots from," she said with a small frown, "while they were harassing the nice veggie seller, one of them bumped into Mommy. They got all rude and demanded that she apologize and when she did they said, 'not that way, that's not good enough. You must grovel on the ground like a dog to earn our forgiveness.' Then they laughed as one of those meanies shoved Mommy onto her knees, calling her mean things."

The girl paused, the herbalist could see tears forming in the girl's eyes. She thought, _she can't be more than five years old, how can people be so mean to the mother of such a young girl!_ She was outraged, but stopped to listen to the rest of the young girl's tale.

She continued, "They only laughed harder when Mommy started to cry, and then they knocked her basket of food to the ground and started to trample on them. That food was all we would have for the next two weeks and Mommy had had so little money to spend on it to start with. When Mommy got up again, she was crying"

"Then one of the boys got mad and slapped Mommy, and she fell back onto the ground. As he tired to hit her again, I stepped in front of Mommy, I would protect her no matter what!" she exclaimed vehemently, but soon she grew sad again, "the bad boys just laughed at me and hit me away. Angry at the boy for hurting me and Mommy, I ran up to him and bit his leg. He got really scary then, he pulled out a knife and started coming after me. Mommy screamed at me to run, but I couldn't leave her with those bad men. Bit when she told me to run again she was so scared that I ran away fast."

By now both the little girl and the herbalist had tears running down their cheeks, one out of remembrance of the previous events, the other because she was feeling so bad for what had happened to the little girl. The young lady gently urged the girl to continue her story.

"And then all those evil men started running after me, I was running as fast as I could and they were still catching up to me," the tears were liberally flowing down the girl's cheeks by now, and she continued to tell her story between sobs. "I was so scared, sob I didn't know what to do, when I tripped over a rock and fell on my face. One of the men sob cut at me with his knife in my arm before I could get up and kick up the dust into their faces. sob While they were trying to find me I ran into this alley and hid between the crates. They thought I went a different direction, but even after I couldn't hear them any more, I stayed here because I was scared that they would come back and hurt me again."

The herb maiden wordlessly took the tearful girl into her arms and murmured quiet nothings into her ear until the shuddering stopped. While stroking her back, the girl looked up into the face of the nice lady who had saved her, taking in her heart-shaped face slightly pinched from hunger, worried caring green eyes with shadows beneath them, and long soft golden brown hair that was matted and tangled tied into a low braid. Seeing that the girl was calm again, the herbalist asked the girl what her name was and where she lived with her mother.

She answered, with a bright smile, tears still in the corner of her eyes, "My name is Tina. Thank you so much for helping me; you're a really nice and pretty lady."

"That's a lovely name Tina, my name is Aeris. Pleased to meet you," the herb seller now known as Aeris replied, "can you tell me where your mother is so I can get you back to her, she is probably worried to death about you."

Tina beamed, "Me and Mommy live on the west side of town in the Juniper Flats tenant house. You should come and have dinner with us and spend the night, I'm sure that Mommy won't mind." She said in the offhand manner that many children use.

"Follow me it's right this way," Tina said as she took Aeris' hand and started excitedly walking northwest. People shot the pair amused looks as the little girl lead Aeris by the hand so fast that she was stumbling to catch up.

"Slow down!" Aeris laughed, "if you don't you'll make me fall."

"Sorry," Tina sheepishly replied, she slowed down her speed a little, just enough so that Aeris could walk without tripping. While the duo walked through town, Tina happily chattered away about her experiences, her Mommy, and the town as Aeris listened attentively. Turing a corner onto the next street, Aeris and Tina bumped into an anxious woman in her thirties with thin blond hair and pale green eyes.

Looking up, the woman cried, "Tina! Thank goodness that you are alright and uninjured. How did you ever get away from those ruffians?"

Tina, happy to see her mother again, told her mom what happened after she had run away, "and then while I was crying in the alley, wondering if I would ever see you again, this angel found me and helped me. She saved my life Mommy. She sells herbs, isn't that neat? I want to be an herbalist when I grow up! Especially after the neat way she healed me. It was funny, all she did was hum and hold her hands over my arm, and then a pretty green light came from her hands and healed my cut up right away. It was so cool!"

As the woman heard the words "pretty green light" come from her daughter's mouth a horrified look crossed her face.

"Cetra!" she screamed in the middle of the road, "get away from my baby you monster! How dare you pollute her with your dark magick!"

As the frenzied woman was screaming, dragging her confused daughter away, the people around them looked up, hatred in their eyes.

"Cetra!" The shout went up and rapidly carried over several streets. By now Aeris had dropped her herb basket and was running for her life. Running out of breath as people gave chase, she ran into the same alley that she had found Tina and hid in the same place that Tina had. Softly hyperventilating, Aeris curled into a ball, making herself as small as possible. Listening to the sounds of the mob recede as they got farther from her, she cursed her self for her carelessness.

_Stupid! You know better than to use your powers, even if it is to help. Everyone always reacts the same. Cetra, what a cursed word! Every time someone hears it, they go into a killing frenzy trying to "kill the Cetra". It's all because of that stupid Prophecy! I wish that the person who uttered it was never born!_ Horrified by her own thoughts she scolded her self, _don't blame others for being scared of the Cetra because a prophecy, especially such an ominous one. If I were in their shoes, I would fell the same way, wouldn't I? Anyways, I'm the last one, if I die, the prophecy won't come to pass and what they fear will not occur. Maybe it would just be best for everyone if I just disappeared._

Shaking herself out of her morbid thoughts she instead concentrated on how she was going to escape town without being noticed. By now her description had spread across the town. The reason that Aeris had chosen this town in the first place was because no one here had known who she was or the description of the "Cetra". Now, the whole town knew what she was, and she would have to leave without anything but what was on her back, _again_. What was worse was that this was a military recreation town. There were off-duty soldiers everywhere, her chances of getting out unscathed were minimal, if at all. As these thoughts and similar ones went through her head she drifted off into a exhausted slumber.

* * *

She woke up to darkness and silence, frightened that she had fallen asleep at such a dangerous time. Noiselessly she got up and took stock of what she had left: a few packets of herbs, a piece of flint and a striker, a small wedge of cheese, a few dried fruits and a little money. There was not even enough money to pay for a room in the cheapest tavern. Not that she would go to one unless she had a death wish, and she didn't. On what she had, she could probably feed herself for a few days if she rationed her food very carefully. By then she would have to be out of the town with a fairly good distance between her and it. Frowning, she knew that her chances of actually accomplishing that in a few days were practically impossible. With the town on full alert and filled with soldiers, it would be very hard to sneak out without being caught. 

Peering out into the street, Aeris saw that all was clear. She cautiously crept out into the street and tried to look as she was out doing a nightly chore, minding her own business. After walking towards what she thought was the exit, she heard the distant sound of a crowd. Her curiosity getting the better of her, especially since the sound was coming from a part of town far from her and that no one was around here, she followed the noise. Eventually she came up to the main square. What she saw there made her nauseous, but she held it in, knowing that if she vomited she would give herself away.

In the middle of the square, a hangman's platform had hastily been erected, and hanging from the noose was a girl only a few years younger than herself in a faded blue dress similar to her own and long ragged mousey brown hair. Aeris held back a sob, realizing that the mob had thought that this girl was her and for that this innocent girl had lost her life. _Everything I come across is truly cursed_ she thought.

While the crowd was roaring at the swaying figure, several men near by were having a conversation about what was going on.

"Glad that that Cetra bitch is dead. Who did she think she was trying to pass herself as human?" one stated.

"Yeah, pity that this one was so pretty, would have been a good lay before she became the hangman's best friend," another callously remarked.

"How many do you think are left after this one? The more that are killed the better. You know the saying, 'the only good Cetra is a dead one!'"

At that both men guffawed loudly, while Aeris having heard enough, walked away from the vile and base crowd. Wandering around the town in a daze, Aeris came to when she realized that she had come to one of the town's few ungated entrances. What caught her attention was that this one was unguarded. Not even marveling at her great luck, the herbalist left the town with a heavy heart and a troubled soul.

_Almost every town I go to, this sort of thing eventually happens_ Aeris thought, _but this is the first time someone else has died because of what I am. Why is fate so cruel?_ More depressed than ever, she rhythmically put one foot in front of another and soon the town was out of sight. _All this happened because of that stupid prophecy that was made 1000 years ago.

* * *

_

"The Cetra maiden will tame the spawn of Jenova, and in the process both shall fall in love. Then the planet will know great sorrow."

* * *

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them, both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in. 


	2. Nightmares of the past returned

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7.

Ch.2- Nightmares of the past returned

It had been two weeks since that disastrous night in Couldren. Aeris was footsore and filthy. Her meager supplies of food had barely lasted her two days after she left, and if it wasn't for her connection with the planet, she would have starved to death long ago. As Aeris had wandered the countryside, without food or water, the planet had guided its last Cetra to streams, berry bushes and edible roots. Winter was coming and she knew that she wouldn't survive unless she found shelter and was able to gather a lot of food in a short time before the first snows came. Basically, Aeris needed to find a town where she could spend the winter in, one that didn't know her appearance.

She sneezed violently as the thought of a hot meal and a warm bed came unbidden into her mind. _Great_, she thought, _I caught a cold. Just what I needed right now._ Shaking herself out of her contemplations, Aeris started looking for a place where she could sleep. Noticing a shallow cave about 100 meters up hill at the base of a cliff, she forced her weary legs to start moving up the hill, picking up a few thin sticks to start a fire when she got there. Finally, after about a 20 minute strenuous walk up the hillside, during which her legs didn't stop complaining about the abuse they were being put through, she reached the cave at the base of the cliff. Looking inside, she found the cave to be deeper and lower than she had initially thought, and deemed it suitable to sleep in. Glancing back downhill, Aeris noticed a small copse of trees about 100 feet away. She laid her belongings at the back of the cave and walked towards the thicket.

Several trips and plenty of scratches later, Aeris had assembled a small pile of dry fire wood and kindling, hopefully enough to last the night. She hoped so, because she was definitely _not_ going back to that nasty thorny scrub oak thicket. She had had enough scratches made on her delicate skin already thank you very much! Once again the image of a hot meal came up unbidden in front of her eyes. Groaning, she pushed herself up and went off in search of food. :This way, child. There are some roots buried underground a little way off, and a small stream a bit further away: the planet hummed to its beloved child. _Thank you beloved friend, I was very hungry,_ Aeris replied.

Following the gentle humming of the planet a few meters south along the cliff base, Aeris noticed the tell-tale leaves of an edible root that only grew in these parts. After finding a rock with which Aeris could dig with, she set about unearthing her dinner. Half an hour later, sweaty and covered in even more dirt, she had three medium sized tubers which she would roast over the fire tonight. Aeris went back to the cave and placed the roots with the rest of her things and picked up the gourd she had found a few days earlier. Walking downhill once again, Aeris eventually found the small stream, barely trickling, and placed the gourd in the stream so that it would fill up. When it was full, Aeris lugged the water filled gourd back up the hill, careful not to spill any of the precious liquid. Hungry and exhausted by now, Aeris made a fire with her flint and striker and set the tubers to roasting. Aeris was very thankful that she had the flint and striker, otherwise she would have slept in the cold every night and gotten sick much sooner. As it was, the cold she was developing would severely hinder her traveling time in the days to come.

Not relishing how she knew she would feel in a couple of days, she ate all of the roots she had been roasting, knowing that she needed to keep up her strength as much as possible. The stars were starting to come out while Aeris ate her meal. Glancing up at the night sky she was relieved to see no trace of clouds in the sky. Yesterday it had rained while she was walking, totally soaking her. Even after spending two hours drying herself in front of the fire last night, her hair was still partially wet when she had fallen asleep before the fire. She woke up the next day with a sore throat and a runny nose. With a long suffering sigh, Aeris drank deeply from her gourd, splashed the rest onto her face in an attempt to clean it, and got ready for bed. At least she would be dry tonight. Her last thought she had before she surrendered to darkness was _it really has been five years since that day when my life was irrevocably changed for the worst…

* * *

_

Dream sequence

Flowing darkness surrounded her everywhere. Voices all around whispered words that were almost understandable, with malice and despair in their tones. Glowing green eyes that haunted her nightmares for years glared down at Aeris with uncontrollable hatred and murderous intent. She could feel the shift in the darkness around her as it became aware of her presence. _Child of the Cetra_ the voices hissed, _you really think that you can defeat us when you are so pitifully weak? There is nothing you can do to prevent the prophecy from coming to pass. You shall be the cause of the destruction of this world by willingly helping the one you fear most in his dreams of destruction._

_No! No! No! No! No! No! No!_ She was screaming. _I'll die before I let that happen!_

**You are correct about one thing Cetra**, the voice of her tormentor crashed around her, **you will die and I will be the one to kill you. I will have my vengeance on you for what happened five years ago.**

Screams of pure terror were ripping from her throat as she saw the figure of the man who had been causing her to have nightmares for the last five years appeared in front of her, looking like some raging god of vengeance. With a swipe of his monstrous blade he cut the darkness in two and in its place a deep black gorge with a faintly glowing green river at the bottom appeared. Aeris upon looking at the green river miles below found herself falling down into the gorge. The speed picking up as she fell further, her shrieks were lost to the raging winds that swept through the gorge. Just when she was about to hit the deep, swiftly flowing river, she woke up.

* * *

With a start, Aeris shot up the images from her nightmare fresh in her mind. Panting heavily Aeris broke out into a cold sweat. _He can't still be alive!_ She panicked, _not after what happened five years ago. It must have been just a bad dream._ Not assured of her reasoning whatsoever, Aeris fell back into deep dreamless sleep.

Vibrant green eyes slowly opened as the sunlight crept into the cave. Yawning and stretching Aeris got up prepared to greet the new day when a hard fit of coughing hit her. Obviously, not even a full meal and a warm fire to sleep by were not enough to push back the symptoms of her cold. Aching all over, in that achy feeling one gets with a cold; Aeris slowly got up and gathered her belongings. After making sure that the fire was out, she left the cave and went out in search of breakfast. A few handfuls of under-ripe sour berries, some tiny and hard edible mushrooms, and a trip down to the stream later, Aeris was ready to start her traveling for the day.

Walking down the hill, Aeris was greeted with the last birdsongs of the year before they flew south for the winter. _Wish I could migrate south for the winter as well_, Aeris thought, followed by _why not?_ There was a port town not far from where she was, and with a few days earnings she could pay for a room in a ship that was traveling south. Even better was the fact that she had not visited this town before and she doubted that anyone here had heard of the Cetra sighting in Couldren.

With a renewed burst of happiness Aeris started walking faster down the path between the cliff and the grass lands to the south. She had walked for about an hour before the realization that she didn't have anything to sell came crashing down on her. Aeris scolded herself for her short sightedness, and went off in search of ingredients for the medicines she could sell.

A few days later, Aeris had collected enough herbs to satisfy her needs and was in the process of making her medicines when the planet started painfully shrieking. Unable to tell what was wrong, Aeris nevertheless tried to understand what the planet was telling her in the confusing jumble of images that it had shown her. All that she could make out of the mess was that something serious had happened that had caused the planet great pain and that it was transferring its pain onto her.

Eventually the planets shrieks wound down, leaving Aeris sore all over. Breaking into another fit of coughing, Aeris asked _what happened dear friend! What does this mean? Tell me what to do to help._ Gaia remained silent, refusing to answer the Cetra's concerns. Aeris, feeling slightly put off and hurt by the planet's refusal to answer her, shakily got up from where she had fallen. While she worked on her herbal remedies for the rest of the day, the planet stayed silent.

Another week passed, and Aeris was ready to go into town. Wary and on the lookout, she asked several townspeople If they had heard any news from the west where she had come from. Relieved at the lack of news about the Cetra sighting, Aeris quickly had sold all her wares and had earned enough money to afford the trip south and buy some new clothing and supplies. In a small clothing shop, called "Good Seamers", Aeris overheard some news from the northeast that greatly worried her.

"It was the weirdest thing Gabby," a middle aged woman was saying, "a few days ago a fellow down in Kurry saw the oddest thing. That's the place where a lot of our coal comes from you know."

"Oh quit stalling Linda and spill the beans," her companion irritably shot, "I know how much you like to gossip. If you had your way, it would be fifteen more minutes before you actually to the story."

Unfazed by her friend's rudeness, Linda continued, "Well Gabby, you know how much people from up north like to tell long tales, helps pass the long winters up there. So when I originally heard the tale I thought that it was another one of the infamous fairy tales that came out of the area. But when I heard one of the sailors whose ship often stops in our port tell me a very similar tale, I was convinced about its authenticity."

"Oh, for goodness' sake Linda, just get to the point!"

"You're no fun Gabby you know. Well anyways, the tale that the young fellow told me took place about ten days ago. Apparently when he was out in the plains that are close to Kurry, near the Sporan River, he saw green flashes in the night sky. Following them, he eventually stumbled upon an old coal mine that had been abandoned. It was abandoned because an underground branch of the lifestream had been broken into and flooded the mine by the way. But what he saw there was amazing; the lifestream was boiling, how often does one see that?"

Gabby scowled. Linda continued, "well this fellow was so shocked that he almost got crushed by a rock that had been dislodged by the rumbling caused by the lifestream. When he had collected his wits, he noticed a huge bubble was rising in the lifestream. Knowing whatever was happening was bad, he took cover. And just in time too, because a second later a huge explosion rocked the mine, covering the poor fellow in mako. The odd part about this all is that before he passed out he saw a tall dark figure striding away from the source of the explosion."

"That's it? All that suspense you put me through and that was all you had to tell me?" Gabby grumbled.

"Come now Gabby," Linda cheerfully spoke, "you know that not everyday you hear something like that."

As the two women continued to bicker in a friendly fashion, Aeris quickly paid for her purchases and left the store in a rush. Her mind whirling, she barely saw where she was going before she stopped in front of a fountain of that had a sculpture with fish and mermaids. The thoughts, _no, it's just a coincidence, he can't be back. I mean he died back there all those years ago. It's just not possible for someone to come back from the dead!_, quickly passed through her head. Deciding if the impossible had really happened Aeris knew that he best chances of survival were in getting as far away from this continent as possible as quickly as possible.

Aeris hurriedly packed her things all the while thinking about booking a trip on the ship leaving town the soonest. At the docks, she quickly arranged for a ride in a cargo ship that was headed to Emal continent in the south. One hour later, the _Storm Rider_ was heading out of the port town of Sausy Bay towards the choppy waters of the Galain Ocean. Hopefully to a warmer, safer place than the cold, hostile Werley continent was.

In a small, windowless cabin aboard the _Storm Rider_ Aeris sat on the small, hard bunk while trying unsuccessfully to not get seasick. Miserable, cold, and seasick, Aeris slowly drifted off into a fitful sleep.

* * *

_That dammed bitch got away again_, the figure with glowing green eyes snarled to himself. Standing on the docks of the town of Sausy Bay was a tall man dressed in a long black leather trench coat, with a six foot long katana strapped to his back. Even during the busy time when the fishing ships returned with their daily catches, the people on the docks gave the mysterious figure a wide berth.

Totally ignoring the insignificant mortals around him, the tall warrior strode through the crowds that parted to allow him to walk unhindered, to a merchant and a captain of ship arguing over the price of the goods the latter was selling. Casting his long shadow over the two, they both looked up clearly startled. The merchant, seeing that the warrior's attention was on the sea captain wisely departed the area, argument quickly forgotten. The captain, now imitated, looked in askance at the menacing swordsman. In a cold, smooth voice, he demanded the last known whereabouts of a young traveling herbalist. In a shaky voice the captain responded that he had seen the lass bartering with the first mate of the _Storm Rider_ for a ride to the Emal continent. Snarling, the swordsman pushed the captain aside, who landed with a splash in the dirty waters of the docks, and stalked off in search of a vessel that could quickly catch up with the _Storm Rider_ which had departed a week ago.

The steward of the _Gull's Pride_ had been having a bad day. First he got up only to find that vermin had gotten into the grain stores that were for the voyage to Sounen Island. Then, when he went out to get more money from the captain (who was suffering from a hangover) to replace the ruined provisions, he got an empty wine bottle thrown at him. The captain blaming the steward for the rats' damage to the provisions since such things were his responsibility and was told that he would have to spend his own money for what needed replacement. When he went to the only grain merchant in town, he overcharged the steward by three times the fair asking price, and had to spend almost all of the wages he had earned from the last voyage on enough grain to barely feed all the crew members on the _Gull's Pride_. Upon returning to the ship with the replacement provisions that first mate had cussed him out about being late and neglecting his responsibilities. To which he told the infernal man where he could shove his responsibilities, earning him a dock in his wages for the next voyage. So when a man in a leather trench coat walked up, the steward rudely asked, "what the hell do you want you bastard?"

In less than an eye blink, the steward found the point of a long sharp sword pressed up against the skin of his neck, a thin trickle of blood running down his chest where the blade had cut into his skin. The man wielding the sword had an emotionless look on face, but one could tell that he was mad by how hard he was gripping his katana. Pressing his blade closer to the man's neck the warrior advanced forward towards the gangplank of the _Gull's Pride_, causing the steward to take a few steps back. Fearful whimpers escaped the man's mouth as the sliver-haired figure spoke.

"I am correct that this shabby piece of wooden planks that is barely floating is the _Gull's Pride_, the fastest ship in this stinking excuse for a town, is it not?" the swordsman spoken in a tone that booked no argument, "I require the services of this floating piece of rubbish to catch up a transport vessel called the _Storm Rider_. You will take me to your captain and inform him that he and his miserable crew will do this task for me, no complaints and for no fee or every man on this ship will die on Masamume's blade."

Shaking with fright, the terrified steward, practically ran to the captain's cabin, the swordsman following at a controlled pace.

"Captain Frontley, there's a man to see you about a commission," the steward squeaked out.

"Send him away; we already have a commission we have taken to deliver two hundred rolls of fabric to Sounen Island. Or have you forgotten that fact you simpering idiot?" the captain distractedly responded.

"But sir, you must really see this gentleman, he is" the steward was cut off when the warrior pushed him aside and strode into the room.

"What do you want?" the captain crossly asked.

"You will transport me on this pathetic excuse for a vessel to catch up with the _Storm_ _Rider_ that left a week ago." The swordsman stated.

"What, you must be crazy! Like hell I will take some wannabe assassin onto my ship for free and abandon a well paying commission just to chase after a transport ship."

Just like before, when the steward was rude to the warrior, the captain found himself sweating with Masamune pressed up against his throat.

"This is not a request, I am commanding you to get this vessel ready and depart within the hour to go after the _Storm Rider_. Fail to do so and you and your whole crew will all end up on the sharp side of my sword." The swordsman replied in a quiet, deadly tone.

Nothing gets a man to get working faster than a threat against his life and sure enough, one hour later the _Gull's Pride_ was quickly skimming the waves in fast pursuit of the _Storm Rider_.

Satisfied that things were going smoothly, the silver-haired man was standing on the prow of the ship, when a voice intruded on his contemplations.

-Son, you seem very smug. What is the cause of this sudden satisfaction, just an hour ago you were so cross that you were giving me a headache- a scaly female voice spoke into his head.

-That annoying Cetra had decided to skip town, making it rather obnoxious to find her. The reason for my so called "satisfaction", as you put it Mother, is that I have procured transport to catch that wretch before she lands on Emal.- The swordsman chuckled darkly, -When I catch up to her I will make sure that her death is a slow and painful one.-

-Sephiroth, you shall not kill the Cetra!- the voice of his "Mother" sharply commanded, -you must put aside your inconceivable need for vengeance, and make sure that she is delivered to me unharmed, she is vital to our plans.-

"WHAT! You must be joking Mother! There is nothing that will stop me from having my revenge!" the silver haired man roared, receiving several fearful looks from the crew.

The voice in his head was really peeved, -Sephiroth, stop acting like a foolish human! Put aside these silly notions of yours. You are very strong my son, but you do not have enough power to summon Meteor by yourself. If our goal is to succeed, we must have the cooperation of the Cetra to cast the spell. Furthermore, only she can retrieve the Black Materia, since all the humans have killed off the rest of her kind. You may be able to find the Temple of the Ancients, but you can't unlock it secrets.-

Grudgingly admitting that Mother had a point, he conceded to let the Cetra live until she retrieved the Black Materia for him. After that though,…

Picking up on his train of thoughts, the entity Sephiroth called "Mother", sent her strong disapproval through the mental link they shared, leaving him with a throbbing headache.

* * *

After a week out at sea, Aeris had finally gotten over her seasickness and found her sea legs. The warmer temperatures along with the fresh ocean air had a predictable effect on the once miserable Cetra. Currently, she was up on the deck enjoying the wind that was generated by the ships advancement, the gentle breezes playing with her long hair. Under the setting sun, it seemed to glow a bright golden red, to the effect that her hair looked a stream of molten gold and fire. Aeris' eyes were gleaming as she thought about how pleasant it would be to spend the winter in the tropics, safe and comfortable.

Earlier in the day, she could be seen walking all over the ship exchanging tales with the sailors in a rough, amiable fashion. Remembering some of the tales that they had told her that had made her laugh out loud, Aeris let out a happy sigh. Finally things were looking up for her. She was going to the tropical town of Wellspring on the southern continent of Emal, no one on the ship knew that Aeris was a Cetra and as a consequence she was treated like a normal girl. If he really was back (as impossible as it sounded), she was so far ahead of him, that by the time he got to Wellspring, she would be so deep in the wilderness that he would never find her.

She stayed at the front of the ship until the stars started to awaken. Gazing up into the heavens, she marveled at how many stars were out there that couldn't be seen except in the clear ocean sky. It made Aeris feel so nostalgic, her ancestors had originally come from the stars and she longed to return to the heavens to explore what wondrous things might be out there. Getting lost in her thoughts, she spent several hours in the same position gazing up into the stars. Her musings were cut short when one of the sailors gently shook her arm and told her that she should get some rest. Smiling and thanking the man, she turned her stiff body around and walked with a slight limp back to her cabin. She quickly fell into a deep sleep, her dreams filled with stars and music.

* * *

Sephiroth was beyond annoyed, it had been several days and there was still no sign that they were making any progress. Naturally a bit impatient, he stormed into the captain's room, now smaller since Sephiroth had appropriated his old one, and angrily demanded what the hell was taking so this ship dammed long to catch his quarry. The captain, a bit more used to the violent man's ways, kept his fear at bay and calmly replied that the _Storm Rider_ had left port seven days before they did, and since the transport ship was going half as fast as the _Gull's Pride_ was traveling at, it would be about one and half days before they caught up to the ship.

Angry at a lack of a reason to get violent, Sephiroth glared at the offending person promising a nasty death if what he said wasn't true. Stalking out of the cabin, the crew members of the ship hurriedly got out of the man's path sensing what a foul mood he was in. _I swear,_ Sephiroth thought,_ if the stupidity of these ingrates doesn't get to me first, the sheer lack of action on this ship will make me kill something. Chasing after someone shouldn't take so long, worthless humans._

That night a storm came upon the _Gull's Pride_, catching everyone on board unaware. During the chaos of the storm Sephiroth retreated to the captain's former cabin, cursing the fates for his inconvenience. Several wet and windy hours later, the storm subsided and Sephiroth woke up, annoyed at himself for falling asleep. Walking out to the front of the ship his mood did a 180 when he saw the shadow of a large transport ship off near the horizon outlined by the sinking moon's light. He smirked evilly, within a few hours, the ship he was on would catch up with the _Storm Rider_ and he could kill everyone onboard and sink this miserable piece of wreckage.

By dawn, as the sun was just barely rising, the _Storm Rider_, was about ten miles away when Sephiroth unsheathed Masamune and screams filled the air as he slaughtered ship's crew. Wiping the blood off his sword, Sephiroth formed a large ball of crackling dark energy, jumped up into the air, threw it at the _Gull's Pride_, and flew off towards the transport ship the Cetra was on.

* * *

A tremendous boom followed by a huge splash jolted Aeris out of her dreams. She hastily pulled on her boots and rushed to the deck. At the port side of the ship half of the crew was at the railing gazing out across the ocean where the commotion had come from. Slipping under the sailors' arms, she made her way to the rail only to see a huge pillar of smoke off in the distance.

"Tis a bad omen," one of them whispered.

"Aye, this can only mean bad things are in store for us," another commented, "especially being so close that haunted jungle isle."

A foreboding feeling washed over Aeris as she asked, "what is the island called?"

"The Ancient Isle," the first sailor replied with an undertone of fear.

Before Aeris could ask anymore questions, she noticed a black dot in the sky traveling rapidly towards them. Apparently the others noticed as well, since they all scattered and started preparing for an attack. The sailors weren't stupid, they knew that that thing in the sky was bad news. Following their lead, Aeris went to her cabin and grabbed her staff. Returning to the deck she found that the crew was in a frenzied flurry, readying the ships cannons, taking up the sail, and numerous other tasks that needed to be done before it arrived.

Her heart practically stopped when the herbalist was finally able to see what the things coming towards them, or rather specifically her, was. A figure in a black trench coat, long black pants, black combat boots, and steel shoulder guards with a banner of silver hair streaming behind him was flying at the ship full speed, a wicked, long katana held out, ready to attack. It couldn't be, he was dead, there was no way Sephiroth was alive.

Shaking in fear, she was retreating back towards her cabin when Sephiroth roared, "Where's the Cetra!"

The crew looked confused, they didn't know that one of those vile creatures, a Cetra was aboard. Despite their confusion, they immediately recognized Sephiroth for what he was.

"Kill the Spawn of Jenova quickly men, the fate of our world rests on it!" the captain shouted as the crew let lose their bullets, "He must not get to our ship or we are all deadmen."

Grinning manically, Sephiroth dodged the bullets with ease, heading straight towards Aeris. Unfortunately for him, he was so preoccupied with flying towards his prey, that he never noticed a large bazooka that two of the sailors lugged out from the cargo area. With a large blast, the men fired their shot, dead aimed at Sephiroth. Reacting just a second too late, the missile exploded, its electrified contents wrapping tightly around his form. Millions of volts of electricity coursed through his body as he fell into the ocean, passing out as he hit the water.

Aeris watched in complete shock as the sailors fired the electrified net at Sephiroth and he plunged into the ocean. For reasons that she couldn't comprehend, she felt the urgent desire to go after him. As the seconds ticked by she felt more and more pressure to do just so. Just when the sailors had figured out that Aeris was the cause of the attack and were moving towards her, she dived over the edge after Sephiroth.

Under the cold green-blue water, Aeris was thinking why she was even doing this. For crying out loud, this man had tried to kill her at least twice by now. Undeterred by her racing thoughts, she rapidly swam after the quickly sinking figure of the unconsciousness Sephiroth. Her lungs screaming for air, one of her hands grasped the now unelectrified net that was tangled around the swordsman and kicked her legs as hard and frantically as she could, slowly heading for the surface. Before Aeris passed out from oxygen depravation, her head broke the surface, gasping for air. But because she was taking in air too fast, which wasn't allowing oxygen to get to her brain, Aeris fainted.

* * *

Flashback

It was a bitter sweet day for fifteen year old Aeris. She was finally ready to go out on her own and help people with the knowledge she learned about her favorite profession, herbal healing and medicine, but on the other hand, today was the day when she and her childhood sweetheart would be separating for what could be many, many long years. Zack was following his dreams and was due to head off to the elite military academy in Durnot City in an hour. He wasn't going to say goodbye in person because he said that the last memory that he wanted of him and Aeris together to be full of pleasant feelings, not the sadness of a long drawn out farewell.

So Zack and Aeris had spent the whole of yesterday in each other's company, walking through the fields and forests that surrounded their hometown, Rose Fields. They had run and chased after one another, told jokes, romped around in the grass, and climbed trees. They had a picnic on the hill overlooking the valley in which Rose Fields was nestled between the river and the birch forest and talked about their hopes and plans for the future. The day ended with them watching the sunset and the moon rise, side by side in tranquil silence.

Two weeks before her teacher Elymera, had all of a sudden, right in the middle of brewing a potion for the treatment of people who had internal bleeding, announced that she could teach Aeris no more and that experience was the only teacher she needed now. Startled, excitement, sadness, and a bit of nostalgia had rushed through her all at once. Excited that she would really start living her dream, Aeris could hardly wait to set off. For the last few months she had been growing restless, unconsciously knowing that she was almost ready to start off on her own, itching to see what lay in the world outside the valley. She was also sad since Elymera was a great teacher and a caring person, Aeris would miss her caring warmth that she projected around others.

Aeris still couldn't believe that these last two weeks had gone by so quickly. One moment she was sitting shell shocked in Elymera's house making herbal remedies, the next she was setting off on her own journey to find her place in the world. In the two weeks that she had stopped being Elymera's apprentice and became a full herbalist, Elymera had already taken on a new student, a young boy by the name of Tommy. Elymera was already training him to take her place in the town, as she knew that Aeris had too much wanderlust in her to settle down too quickly.

Now, standing at the fork in the road at the end of the valley, Aeris was thinking of how fate was taking her on a different path away form Zack and everything she knew. He had taken the left fork that lead over the mountains to the east that eventually led to Durnot City, Aeris could still see the black dot in the distance that was Zack. She herself would be taking the middle path, the one that followed the river down out of the valley and crossed over Heavens Gorge, named since a segment of the lifestream flowed through a part of it, on a rope bridge. She would eventually make her way down to the lower grasslands of the Serian region where many important trading towns existed. From there she would try to get a ride on a caravan down to the coastal woodland areas and explore the different herbs that grew there.

Aeris finally shook herself of her contemplations, after all she had a journey to start! After making sure that everything was secure she set off down the middle path towards the Heaven's Gorge. It was such a nice day out that as she traveled, Aeris was walking with a spring in her step and sometimes starting skipping at random intervals, there would always be parts of her that remained a little girl at heart. By noon Aeris' pace had slowed down into a more practical energy efficient rhythm, and a faint sheen of sweat was on her face from the unaccustomed exercise.

Aeris stopped short when she heard the planet's warning, she barely had time to duck before a sword cut through the air where her head was just a moment ago. Not even bothering to look back, Aeris got up and broke into a dead sprint. Lungs hurting, she was running as fast as she could and yet the sound of running footfalls behind her was still getting nearer. She put on an extra burst of energy and crested the top of the hill only to come to a dead stop when Heaven's Gorge suddenly opened up in front of her like a gaping maw.

"Well, well, well little Cetra, looks like you've run out of room to run. Pity, because things were just starting to get fun. Now you must die," the voice of her pursuer remarked.

Fear struck her heart when she observed the silver haired figure behind her, his green-blue eyes glowing. His eight foot long sword was drawn, aimed at her. Unconsciously Aeris had begun backing up as the gazed upon the visage of her would be murderer, only to stop when her foot hit air at the edge of the cliff. _Oh planet help me! Stop this madman from killing me please!_ Aeris frantically called to Gaia.

"Asking the planet to preserve your soul after you die on my blade Cetra?" the swordsman's amused voice asked her.

:Don't worry child, everything will be alright. It is not your time yet, fate still has its roles for both of you to fulfill, you shall not die today. Just trust in the earth to guide you: the planet sang to Aeris.

As Aeris received the planet's message, the warrior was advancing on her. Raising his wicked katana for the finishing blow, the ground around them shook. Before either of the two of them could get away from the gorge's edge, the massive earthquake hit, causing the ground beneath them to crumble and fall into the gorge, taking both of its occupants with it.

"Curse you Cetra, if your precious planet hadn't intervened you would be dead. Remember my name in when you are rotting in Hell, because I will make sure to send you there bitch!" shouted Sephiroth as he fell.

One screaming uncontrollably and the other cursing the world, both hit the lifestream and everything went black.

* * *

The first thing Aeris did when she regained coconsciousness was to hack out the salt water she had swallowed. After clearing her lungs and stomach, she looked around to get her bearings. Apparently after fainting, the ocean's currents, guided by the planet, had washed her up onto a sandy beach. Upon further inspection, she came to the conclusion was on an island. Images of what had happened that had led to her current location hit her hard. What in the world had possessed her to dive in after Sephiroth? She would have liked to say that it was the planet's influence, especially after the way it had been acting for the past few weeks, but she had felt no trace of the planet's presence when she made the decision to jump into the sea. It was entirely her own fault for what had happened, something inside of her couldn't let a helpless man die without a chance to save himself.

Speaking of said man, where was Sephiroth? Turning around, sure enough, the still figure of Sephiroth lay face down in the sand, one arm stretched out in front of him, the other at his side, waves gently riding over his legs. To top it off, not only was he out cold, but he wasn't breathing as well. The same part of her that wouldn't let Sephiroth drown made Aeris bend over him, press her parched lips to his and begin to breathe air into them, pumping his chest between breaths. After several rounds of this alternated forced breathing and pumping air out, Sephiroth's chest heaved and green-blue eyes snapped open while Aeris' lips were still on his.

* * *

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them, both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in. 


	3. The haunted isle

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7

Ch. 3- The haunted isle

It felt like he was immersed in quicksand, try as he might he couldn't escape his imprisonment. His body seemed to be made out of lead, he couldn't force his limbs to do anything. Sephiroth was furious, nothing held him back from what he wanted to do, not even his own traitorous body. Slowly the darkness that obscured his senses started to lift and he felt tiny pin pricks of pain flash across his body. Sephiroth was vaguely aware of pressure being applied to his chest at spaced intervals as well as something being forced through his mouth into his lungs. Suddenly he felt his instincts kick in and he tried to draw in a large lungful of air only to find that he was prevented from doing so. Snapping his eyes open he found that indomitable Cetra had been giving him mouth-to-mouth. He snarled and pushed her off but whatever he was about to say never made it as a slightly horrified and queasy look crossed his face.

Aeris was startled to put it slightly when Sephiroth's arm shot up and pushed her away from him. She couldn't help but be amused at the look that crossed his face when whatever comment he was about to make was forgotten and he leaned over and threw up. He had brought up several rounds of salt water and stomach contents before he recovered and shot her a hot glare for seeing him in this humiliating circumstance. The look in his eyes promised that she would regret this later.

Sephiroth stood up with the grace of a jungle cat and roughly grabbed Aeris by her upper arm and wrenched her to her feet. He stood there for a moment contemplating what he would do with her before he grabbed both of her wrists in one hand, withdrew some soggy boot lacings from his trench coat and quickly lashed her hands together. Ignoring her sounds of pain and protests Sephiroth started dragging Aeris behind him, his hand still wrapped around her wrists, towards the edge of the tropical like forest. Upon entering the jungle, he slammed his captive against the trunk of a tree, her hands held above her head.

"Don't think that your little charity act will save you Cetra," Sephiroth spoke darkly, his voice thick with anger. "I intend to let you live a bit longer before ending your pitiful existence. There is something I going to have you retrieve for me, be glad that I am even this generous."

"I have a name you know Sephiroth, and it's not Cetra or bitch. The least you could do is to actually use it," Aeris dryly stated.

"Stop being smart _Cetra_," he emphasized, "just because there is something I need for you to do doesn't mean that I will be giving you any special treatment. So I suggest that you shut up and cooperate and nothing nasty will happen to you before you complete your task."

With that Sephiroth continued striding further into the jungle, Aeris struggling behind him as he dragged her, trying not to trip or fall. As they ventured deeper into the foliage, Aeris found the going to be tough while climbing over fallen trees and logs, ducking under low hanging branches and vines and side stepping rocks and bushes that were liberally strewn across the jungle floor. Without the use of her hands for balance and gripping, Aeris found all of these tasks extremely difficult and winced as another branch whipped her in the face after Sephiroth's passing.

_Dammit I don't have time for this_, Sephiroth thought, _why must the fates mock me by having to use this clumsy Cetra to get me the Black Matera_. He was becoming more irritated by the minute, it seemed like that dammed Cetra tried to stumble into every bush, rock, branch and log that she could to impede his progress. If she kept this up, he couldn't be blamed for killing her out of annoyance.

Sensing his feelings by how tense his shoulders were, Aeris tried to pick up her pace only to have a rock catch on her foot, yanking her wrists out of Sephiroth's hands and sending her sprawling to the ground. Apparently by the look on his face, Sephiroth was beyond irritation at this time. His eyes glowing in anger and his mouth formed into a fierce scowl, the silver haired man didn't even bother to speak before roughly backhanding her and sending her tumbling several feet back through the undergrowth. Aching and bruised in several areas, Aeris lifted her head only to see the same expression on Sephiroth's face that he had worn just before he had fallen into the lifestream. She was in trouble for sure now.

"Goddamit, just try from stopping me from killing this stupid wretch now, the matera be screwed," Sephiroth growled as he slowly unsheathed Masamune and advanced towards the cowering woman. –Sephiroth I strictly forbid that you harm the girl! You may have already done her too much damage for her to be ever able to trust you idiot. Now stop these immature temper tantrums, pick up the girl and get going. It's your own damn fault that she was having so much trouble in the first place.- Jenova's livid voice resounded in his head. -Why did my son have to turn out to be so childish?-

"Stupid bitch isn't really worth the effort," Sephiroth forced out, "absolutely inept at everything and yet she can do what I can't, this goes beyond reason. I suppose that I have no choice seeing how useless this girl is. It will be faster anyway."

At hearing those callous and unflattering words come from that loathsome man who had ruined her life, Aeris felt herself filled with rage. First she had saved his ungrateful life, then he treated her with such carelessness, telling her that she should be grateful that he would kill her only after she had done some mysterious task for him and finally he rewarded her troubles that he caused her with cruelty and violence. Now he was talking about her as if she was an invalid, and that made even the usually fair tempered Cetra lose it.

"How dare you, you pompous arrogant ass!" Aeris shouted furiously, "it's not my fault that I fell down. Gods you're such a repulsive person that even your own parents must have been disgusted by you. After saving your wretched life, the least you could have done was thank me for my troubles for going out of my way to help a man that I despised. Furthermore, my name is AERIS, not Cetra, wretch, or bitch-"

Whatever else Aeris would have said in her fury was cut off as Sephiroth forcefully dragged her to her feet, seized her by the waist and flung her over his shoulder, immediately stomping off into the brush after that. Shocked out of her outburst, Aeris numbly hung draped over Sephiroth's back, unable to say anything. Pleased at her sudden silence and obedience, Sephiroth spent the next few minutes letting his anger drain off, until Aeris started to squirm.

"Now what Cetra, don't tell me that you have to go to crouch behind a tree," he snapped at the uncomfortable girl.

"Crude are we?" Aeris shot back, "I can't help it that your stupid shoulder guard is digging into my stomach, it hurts."

"Can it girl, don't push me."

"Why not, you have pushed me around enough as it is."

"You're getting on my nerves again woman, don't make me teach you to stay silent."

"You're full of it Sephiroth."

"You're aggravating wrench."

"I have a name, its Aeris or are you to stupid to remember that?"

"Do you want to die Cetra?"

"Do you want me to start singing Sephiroth?"

He shuddered.

"Do it and die"

Instead of shutting up, she actually started _singing_. His continued threats to her wellbeing didn't seem to have any effect on her. After a while the warrior eventually fell silent, while Aeris continued her flowing melody. Sephiroth found it odd that he started to relax as her words washed over him, he actually thought that it was oddly soothing and pleasant. Aeris sang about the quiet beauty that was found everywhere in nature, the never ending rhythms of the life that existed all around them, the tranquil serenity of the movement of the moon, the heavenly music of stars and planets, and the joy of the flow of life throughout the planet. Eventually the enchanting voice grew quieter and then altogether stopped. Sephiroth realized that Aeris had fallen asleep as unlikely as it sounded. Pleased that she had stopped being a nuisance, Sephiroth enjoyed the blessed silence as he continued on his way to the center of the island.

* * *

In her dreams, Aeris saw a dreadful sight, up in the sky, a burning black mass was plunging down through the planet's atmosphere, threatening the existence of the planet and all of its occupants. She saw a tall figure, his appearance obscured by the meteor's deadly blaze, laughing like a madman, holding a black sphere in his hand that was about the size of a tangerine. But what scared her most was the realization that she was somehow responsible for what had happened. Her mind flashed back to the prediction that the dark voice had made in her dream weeks back and she knew without a doubt that she was the cause of this curse that had been summoned from the cold distances of outer space.

She whimpered in her sleep and started tossing about when something hard poked into her side, abruptly bringing her out of her dreams. It took Aeris a moment to realize what was jabbing into her side, when part of her dream flashed in front of her eyes. Aeris knew that what had happened in her dream was related to the owner of the shoulder guard that was digging into her side. Apparently Sephiroth had noticed that she was awake as he deposited her on the ground, almost dropping her on her back.

"Get up. Your role will soon be fulfilled Cetra and I won't have to put up with you much longer" Sephiroth announced.

"Wha?" was Aeris' groggy reply as she rubbed the grit out of her eyes.

Sephiroth reigned in his impatience as he watched the herbalist get her bearings. Finally after what seemed an indomitable amount of time to the swordsman, Aeris had managed to get herself up, albeit awkwardly because of her bound hands, and was looking questionably in Sephiroth's direction. With a jerk of his head he indicated the place which he had carried her to.

Looking up at the magnificent ancient structure, Aeris gasped while the planet was humming excitedly in her mind, sending her random bits of images and sounds in its enthusiasm. Looming in front of her was the last and longest lasting structure that her ancestors had ever built when they existed in far greater numbers than were around today. Ivy and other wild vines covered its surface, making the carvings above the massive doorway hard to see. The temple, which it couldn't surely be anything else, was made out of a grey dull enduring rock that couldn't be found anywhere within five hundred miles of this island. It suddenly occurred to Aeris that this was the Ancient Isle that the sailors had talked about on the transport ship shortly before Sephiroth's arrival.

"If you're done gawking, you have something to retrieve for me Cetra," Sephiroth's voiced floated over the humid jungle air.

Heading towards the temple, Sephiroth actually allowed himself to marvel at the achievement that those long-dead Cetra had erected. It was a place of grave majesty and the air felt heavy with solemnness, benefiting its purpose. There was also, he noted, a vague sense of menace and danger in this place, almost as if it knew what his purpose here was. Reigning in his stray thoughts, he focused on just how he was supposed to go about getting into the inner part of the temple. Sephiroth knew that some kind of key was required, just not what it was or how one should use it. He shrugged, that was what the Cetra was here for after all.

While Aeris was walking up the steps towards the entrance of the temple, she was in the middle of asking the planet what the temple was for when a sense of foreboding swept over her. She knew, without a doubt, that what was resting here should not be disturbed and also that it too was related to her dream. Turning around Aeris was about to bolt out of the place when a strong hand clamped on her shoulder.

"Don't even think about it Cetra, you wouldn't make it ten feet away from me." Sephiroth warned in a cold tone, "now come, you're going to get me into the inner sanctuary of the Temple of the Ancients."

At the words "Temple of the Ancients" Aeris froze.

Shaking badly, Aeris asked, "you don't mean that you plan to get _that_?"

"You're finally catching on girl, you aren't as thick as you seem. You will retrieve the Black Matera for me and depending on my mood, I might let you live long enough for me to summon Meteor and kill all these fools on the planet." Sephiroth explained in an almost jubilant tone as he was thinking of how close he was to fulfilling his destructive dreams.

For the first time Aeris was looking at Sephiroth thought the viewpoint of the humans, for now he WAS the Spawn of Jenova, true evil. Back in the jungle when they had that argument that seemed almost close to being friendly, she had thought that maybe, there was a slight chance that there was a good person buried under all that arrogance and temper, especially after he had relaxed during her singing and not dumped her on the ground the moment she had fallen asleep. Now she doubted that there was even a chance that any humanity was in Sephiroth at all. Gathering her resolve before she completely crumbled, Aeris approached Sephiroth preparing to confront him.

"No."

"Cetra, you didn't say what I thought you said," Sephiroth said as he narrowed his eyes. The last thing he wanted from the girl was insolence.

"No," Aeris repeated, "I won't help you get the Black Matera. I won't be a part of your genocide."

"You WILL retrieve the Black Matera for me Cetra," Sephiroth hissed, "why would you even want to protect those worthless humans? They've been hunting you, seeking your death, since you were born. Why help them when they have caused nothing but misery for you for your entire life?"

"It doesn't matter Sephiroth, I will not help you no matter what. I would die before allowing you to lay your hands on the Black Matera," Aeris boldly stated.

Sephiroth was extremely pissed off at her statement, but he couldn't do anything to the girl until AFTER she got him the Black Matera. _Why must I be cursed with self-righteous fools_, Sephiroth darkly thought. –Nevermind the Cetra's objections son, just get the keystone- , even his mother was getting annoyed at the Cetra's stubbornness. He couldn't fathom why this girl wanted to protect the ones who hated her and wanted her death. She's too forgiving for her own good, mercy only means trouble in the future.

"If you won't do it willingly, I will force you to do it Cetra. I could always go out to the nearest town and dispose of all its occupants, leaving you here unable to do anything," Sephiroth threatened, "The bloodbath that I would create would span across the entire Emal continent, the screams music to my ears."

Seeing how deadly silent she had become, Sephiroth bent down and looked her straight in the eye before softly telling her, "now if you don't want that to happen tell me where the key stone is."

Aeris was horrified, she knew that he could and would do as he said if she didn't comply. Opening up the link between her and the planet, she was shocked when the planet gave the information she was seeking immediately. In a dark, inconspicuous corner at the back of the temple, hidden beneath a loose stone in the wall was what she sought. Walking over, Aeris carefully counted up five stones from the corner stone and pried it out. There in the hollow compartment in the wall was a nondescript grey stone that looked like any of the normal stones outside.

"That's it? Your ancestors were clever Cetra, making something as unnoticeable as that the key stone," Sephiroth mused as he bent down and picked up the small, rough rock, grabbed one of Aeris' arms and marched back to the altar in the middle of the back wall. Placing the stone in the center of the design, he waited and noting happened. Before he could ask the Cetra why the bloody contraption wasn't working, Aeris silently turned the stone over with her bound hands so that the smoother end was facing upwards. Immediately after that, a bright light started shinning from the altar and Sephiroth felt himself losing control of his body as he was being sucked into the altar.

"What the hell did you do you blasted idiot!" Sephiroth cried furiously before they disappeared from the room entirely.

* * *

Sephiroth woke up with a pounding headache on cold, hard stone. Getting up he glared around cursing the world in general. What was even worse from not knowing where the hell he was, was the fact that the Cetra was nowhere in sight. He couldn't even hear Jenova through their mental link in this place. After making sure that Masamune was still in place Sephiroth headed for the dark doorway that was standing about twenty meters away to the left. Several minutes later, Sephiroth found himself in the same place that he woke up in. He was starting to feel the urge to kill something when he noticed the vines on the wall on the opposite side of the chamber. Once on the next level up, Sephiroth cursed again, this place was a freaking maze.

About one hour later, Sephiroth was out of patience and thoroughly lost. What's more for the last few minutes he had sensed that something was following him. Sephiroth had just unsheathed Masamune when whatever was behind him pounced. With a casual swipe of his sword, Sephiroth disposed of the attacking creature. He sensed that there were several more of its type around and he smirked. At least he could now work off some of his frustration.

It only took about a minute kill all the creatures. A now much less stressed Sephiroth walked out of the chamber, blood stains splayed everywhere among the corpses of the monsters.

* * *

Aeris awoke to the gentle humming of the planet all around her. She found herself in an empty room surrounded by stone walls, and despite the lack of life around her, Aeris felt a warm welcoming feeling coming from everywhere wrapping around her, making her feel completely safe. As the herbalist got up, she realized that the boot lacings that had tied her hands together were gone and that her wrists had no marks from the chafing that they had caused. The hum of the planet intensified as she felt her feet moving in the direction of it urging. Aeris could hear whispers of the ancients that had built this place all around her telling of stories from the distant past, bits of wisdom and even encouragement from those that were still aware.

Walking under the dark doorway that was the only exit from the chamber, Aeris was surprised to find an old figure in a blue cloak with a wide brimmed, pointy green hat floating in front of her a few feet off the ground. The spirit noticed that it had Aeris' attention, and floated off down a corridor that she had not noticed upon entry of this room. Following it, since that was apparently what it wanted, it lead Aeris down flights of stairs, through more similar room like the one she woke up in, past other doors and corridors that led off in other directions, and even up a few vine ladders growing on the walls of multi-leveled chambers.

As she followed the spirit Aeris felt as though it was leading her to the heart of the inner maze of the temple. She knew that without the spirit's guidance that she would be lost forever in here. Aeris hoped that Sephiroth didn't have a similar guide for surely he would be able to find her that way. If he got lost in the inner maze of the Temple of the Ancients his terrible plan would fail and she would be free. She could spend the rest of her days on the Ancient Isle in peace without the humans coming after her, at one with nature.

Without warning, the spirit that Aeris had been following vanished. She stopped short ahead of her was a large round chamber with twelve different arched doorways that lead to who knows where. The floor of the chamber was swallowed up in the gloom that permeated the inner maze of the Temple of the Ancients and the walkways that connected the doors to each other were rotating around the room. Gingerly stepping on the long platform as it passed her archway Aeris walked out to the middle of the chamber. The path slowly rotating from door to door, Aeris finally made up her mind on which archway to take when Sephiroth emerged from one of the dark passageways just as the path came up to the archway that he emerged from.

As if second nature by now, Aeris sprinted towards the other end of the platform which was just coming up to an archway. She missed her chance to leap from the platform to the archway by just a second and as a result had leapt out into thin air. Before the scream could erupt from her throat, Sephiroth had seized Aeris around the hips and dragged her back onto the rotating path.

"You won't get away from me that easily you little witch. That was a very nasty trick that you pulled, making sure that we ended up in different places of this god forsaken place. You almost got the better of me Cetra, that won't happen again," a clearly furious Sephiroth rasped.

Aeris' face scrunched up as Sephiroth referred to her as "Cetra" again, couldn't he at least use her name? His use of the terms Cetra, wench, girl and bitch when talking to her was really starting to get irritating. As much as she was scared of this violent swordsman, Aeris couldn't help the slight feeling of familiarity that was growing between the two. She sighed, it looked like she was stuck with him for a while so might as well get to know the man before her life ended.

"So Sephiroth where were you born?" Aeris casually asked.

Her question caught Sephiroth totally off guard.

"Why do you want to know Cetra?" he suspiciously asked back.

"Just curious."

"Well keep it to yourself."

After the short exchange, both of them fell silent for a while as they started walking down the path to a random archway (well more like Sephiroth was dragging Aeris down the path). Stepping down off the revolving platform, Sephiroth jerked the herbalist after him and marched down the dark corridor. Suddenly, to Sephiroth's shock, Aeris began singing.

"Do you do that every time you get bored Cetra?" Sephiroth asked.

Aeris stopped her singing to reply, "who's the curious one now Seph?" and promptly started singing again.

"Don't call me that girl," Sephiroth barked.

Her singing stopped, "why not, you are always calling me things than my own name _Seph_," she resumed her singing.

He conceded that she had a point, but that didn't stop him from replying, "keep calling me that and I'll break your arm."

Aeris ignored him and kept on singing. Sephiroth let her be, but if he had looked back, he would have noticed a certain smugness in her eyes.

Abruptly the seemingly unending corridor that they were walking down opened up into a large, long, softly lit room. All along the walls leading up to the furthest edge of the room were a story was painted out in vivid realism. At the end of the room was a low pedestal that had a small black pyramid floating a few inches above it. Apparently they had reached Sephiroth's goal, by the hungry gleam in his eye.

The warrior pushed Aeris in front of him and motioned for her to approach the pedestal. Slowly walking towards the end of the room, Aeris absorbed the frightful and tragic story that the creators of the temple had recorded in the pictures. It told of the first time that the Black Matera had been used and how the Calamity from the Skies had fallen as a result. Its warning stood clearly to Aeris, that if anyone retrieved the Black Matera, a similar fate would upon the world. When she stood at the front of the pedestal, Aeris tentatively reached out a finger and gently touched the floating pyramid. The whole temple shook, frightened, Aeris looked closer and saw that the pyramid was actually an intricate puzzle.

Sephiroth leaned forward and reached out a hand to touch the pyramid when a bright light flashed and threw him back. Rubbing his tingling hand, he thought, _so that's why Mother said that I couldn't retrieve the Black Matera without the Cetra. What a hassle._

"Get to it Cetra," Sephiroth coolly said.

Seeking the planet's guidance, Aeris set about the momentous task of solving the puzzle of the pyramid. When the first piece snapped into its correct position the whole temple shook and a wall of solid rock dropped down in front of the archway into the room, sealing Sephiroth and Aeris in. Then the whole place seemed to _shrink_ a few inches.

"So the Cetra laid one last trap to prevent anyone from taking the Black Matera. The way this temple was designed made it almost impossible for anyone to get ahold of it, pure ingeniousness," Sephiroth sounded impressed.

_Figures_, Aeris thought,_ only something with this kind of intricacy and deadly intent would impress HIM._

"Keep working girl," Sephiroth said when he noticed that Aeris was distracted.

"Why? If I finish this puzzle, we both will be crushed. We're already trapped in this place," Aeris stated.

"You may, but I won't."

"How do you plan on getting out of here, I don't think that your sword can slice through the walls Sephiroth."

"Be silent and get back to work Cetra."

"It's your funeral then."

Sephiroth glared at Aeris, she rolled her eyes and resumed working on finding the solution to the puzzle.

Hours passed, Sephiroth had long since run out of patience and was currently pacing the length of the chamber, his hand fingering Masamune's hilt. Everytime the Temple of the Ancients shook and shrunk, he stopped wearing a rut in the stone floor and checked on the Cetra's progress. It was painfully slow, he had forcibly rein in his temper several times since he had no other choice. If he killed her before she completed the puzzle he would never get the Black Matera. As Aeris slipped the last piece into place, they temple started rapidly drawing into itself. Sephiroth could hardly contain his glee (that's right glee), he would finally have the Black Matera and be rid of that annoying Cetra at the same time.

Aeris fearfully looked at Sephiroth, there was an unholy fire dancing in his eyes that showed his instability. Suddenly she was more afraid of him than the collapsing temple.

"This is where we part ways Cetra. Enjoy your last few moments before you become part of the Black Matera," Sephiroth spoke and let out a round of evil laughter as he vanished in front of the astonished Cetra's eyes.

Aeris started crying as the realization swept over her that Sephiroth had abandoned her.

* * *

The moment Sephiroth reappeared in front of the temple, he was hit with a wave of dizziness. Teleporting had always taken a lot out of him, even over short distances, that was why he preferred to walk or fly whenever possible.

–Excellent work my son!- Jenova's voice sounded in his mind.

–Yes Mother, we can finally can advance our plans,- Sephiroth sent back –you were right, this is all thanks to the Cetra.-

-I knew that you would eventually admit that I was right in this matter, I am always right about these things,- Jenova replied. She was so satisfied with the prospect of her son getting the Black Matera within a matter of moments that she never noticed that Sephiroth had left the Cetra in the Temple of the Ancients, contrary to what she had told him to do.

Something was bothering Sephiroth that wasn't letting him enjoy his accomplishment. His mind kept on drifting back to the woman he had left in the collapsing temple. Her behavior towards him was baffling. First she saved his life when she could have remained perfectly safe on that transport ship. Then she was alternatively terrified of and irritating to him, even worse he had actually enjoyed her singing back in the jungle and temple. _Dammit!_ Sephiroth thought as he realized what he had to do, _the fates must really hate me._ With that he disappeared from the jungle surrounding him.

* * *

The oxygen level in the Temple of the Ancients was so low that she was almost passing out. By now all her fear had fled her and she was almost unaware of the collapsing temple around her. _I wonder if I will be able to see my parents in the Promised Land after I return to the planet_ Aeris dazedly thought. An odd sort of calm had descended around the Cetra making the very real events occurring around her seem surreal, almost dreamlike. She no longer cared about the fact that she was about to die, all she wanted was to be at peace. In this state she was in, it was no wonder that she never noticed the figure suddenly appeared next to the almost crushed figure.

She barely heard Sephiroth speak the words, "looks like that you won't be dying today after all Cetra," before she passed out.

* * *

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them, both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in. 


	4. Burned by an old flame

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7

Warning: This chapter contains content of non-consensual sexual intercourse. If you don't know what that means, you're too young to read this fic.

Ch.4- Burned by an old flame

Beloved child, wake up. Now is not a time to be sleeping, he needs you Aeris heard the planet's soft message as she slowly gained consciousness. Bright sunshine stabbed into her eyes as they opened causing a headache to immediately form. _This just isn't my day_ Aeris thought, _the lack of oxygen in the temple must have killed off at least half of my brain cells, maybe that's why I'm feeling so miserable_. In total disregard for the nasty sunlight-from-hell that had so ruthlessly damaged her eyes upon awakening, they shot open as that last thought processed its way through her mind. _Forget the brain damage, how am I even alive? I should be a tiny squished ball of goo by now. How did I even escape from the collapsing temple?_

Dreading about learning what she knew but refused to acknowledge, Aeris stiffly turned around just to have her suspicions confirmed. There just a foot away the silver haired sword slinger was lying motionless on the ground. The last part of the planet's message became clear as the herbalist noticed how the ground around him was stained a rust-red color.

Immediately Aeris moved closer to Sephiroth, her healer's instincts overriding caution, to inspect the source of the blood soaked ground. When she saw the wound in Sephiroth's abdomen, Aeris cringed, it would take a lot of energy to heal such a wound as his. This time before Aeris rushed headlong into doing something that could get her killed, she thought _why should I help him, I saved his life once and he promised that he would kill me later, only because he needed my abilities as a Cetra. Not to mention him causing me to get several bruises along the way._ Aeris absentmindedly rubbed those areas when she thought about them, if she actually did decide to save him, it would have to be soon. With the amount of blood he was loosing and had already lost, Sephiroth would die within a few minutes. _Why am I even doing this?_ Aeris despairingly thought as her hands started to glow while she held them above his midsection,_ this man will be the one to bring destruction to the world and if I heal him, it will be my fault for what will come to pass._

Sweat beaded on the healer's brow as she put more energy into saving Sephiroth's life. Aeris wasn't even sure if she had enough stamina left to even get him past the critical point where he could die again. Progress was painstakingly slow as the gash slowly mended, draining Aeris' energy at a rapid rate. Never before had she used her powers to this extent before. Black spots were dancing in front of the healer's as the skin finally closed over the gash, leaving a large dark brown scab in it place. The wound wasn't fully healed, but she had done enough to stop the bleeding and repair most of the internal damage caused by whatever had caused the wound in the first place. Aeris' last thought before she collapsed on top of Sephiroth was _how did he get that wound, was it while he was saving me?_

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He felt so cold, like all the warmth was flowing out of him. Sephiroth tried as hard as he could to keep the warmth inside of him, but it kept on slipping through his grasp like water. His thoughts grew sluggish as the warmth continued to drain out of him slowly being replaced with a bone piercing cold, _would it be so bad to surrender to the cold and not feel anything for eternity?_ The thought passed through Sephiroth's head at a snail's pace.

When he was just about to give up on the warmth forever, a gentle energy started pouring into his frigid body with the feeling of spring about it. Drawing towards it, he drew it in like a painter draws in the beauty of nature as inspiration for his masterpiece. Gradually the warmth filled his body once again as the sense of being surrounded by lush greenery and the promise of new life brushed the edge of his mind. With an abrupt jerk, the soothing energy that was flowing into him ceased and Sephiroth was jolted to awareness. The first thing he noticed was that a heavy object was resting on his abdomen. He sat up and looked down, sure enough that bothersome Cetra was draped over his stomach, oblivious to the world.

Sephiroth was just about to shove her off of him when the throbbing pain that had been coming from his midsection that he had been ignoring so far decided to make itself known. Gasping in pain with one arm pressing into his stomach, Sephiroth was forced to lay back down when the pain proved too much to stand. Immediately after his head touched the ground again, the pain went down to an aching soreness. With his hand Sephiroth gingerly explored the tender area that had caused him so much pain. Through his explorations Sephiroth found a thick, long scab that stretched for about four inches that when even touched with the gentlest contact sent needles of pain all through his lower stomach. As Sephiroth withdrew his hand, it brushed Aeris' hair that had long since escaped its braid, surprising him with its softness with it even being matted with mud and leaves.

He was confused as to how he had gotten that painful partially healed wound. Sephiroth was sure that the Cetra had something to do with it. Triggered by the thought of the Cetra, the events that occurred just before the temple completely collapsed flashed into his mind.

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Flashback:

_Dammit!_ Sephiroth thought as he realized what he was going to do, _the fates must really hate me._ With that he disappeared from the jungle surrounding him.

He reappeared right next to the barely conscious Aeris, who was struggling to breathe. The temple around them was so small that it was crushing Sephiroth's ribs. He grabbed Aeris and said to her before she passed out and he teleported out of the temple again, "looks like that you won't be dying today after all Cetra."

The moment before he vanished, a part of the stone floor broke and its jagged end tore deeply into his stomach. When he reappeared outside the hole where the Temple of the Ancients had previously occupied, he fainted from the combination of energy use from the teleportation and blood loss.

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After the flashback stopped its assault on Sephiroth, he immediately knew why the Cetra was sprawled on top of him. Once again she had saved his life at great risk to herself, this time actually using her heritage to heal his wound. Judging by the knocked out Cetra and how much pain his wound still caused him, Sephiroth concluded that she had regained consciousness only a few minutes before he would have died from blood loss and had used up all her energy healing his wound while trying to keep him alive. Sephiroth couldn't decide if the Cetra was out of her mind or a hopeless dreamer who believed that she could heal the entire world. Her irrational behavior towards him and humanity was starting to drive him crazy. If she kept this up Sephiroth felt that he would be forced to make her act sensibly.

Sephiroth snorted, he couldn't believe that he was starting to become protective of the troublesome Cetra. Realizing where his train of thoughts was heading, Sephiroth felt the urge to kill her spring up. There was no way in hell that something as scrawny and helpless as her could "tame" him, and if she even tried, he would take great joy in dismembering her.

It had been several minutes since he had woken up, and by now his self-repairing capabilities had healed him enough so that he could get up without reopening his wound and minimal pain. Carefully, so as not to jar his wound, Sephiroth got to his feet, winced as he bent over again, and picked Aeris up in his arms as he looked for a suitable place to camp nearby.

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The sound of meat sizzling brought Aeris out of the realm of dreams. The stars were scattered about and the moon was a bright white crescent in the night sky. Fighting off the nasty aching feeling in her head caused by the massive use of her magic earlier that day, the herbalist sat up and groggily surveyed the clearing she lay in. Above her was a huge tree, trunk covered by climbing vines, its foliage casting a patchy shadow over the campsite. A warm, humid breeze swept through the clearing bringing the moist, earthy smells of the interior jungle to Aeris, swirling around her. A small fire was crackling merrily five feet away from her, two small, unidentifiable, furry creatures roasting over it speared on sharp sticks. The sound of boots crunching the leaves and other dead bio material of the jungle floor reached Aeris' sharp ears, long accustomed to pick up anything out of place that comes with survival in the wilds.

Five minutes later, Sephiroth came tromping out of the brush, with a skin of water in one hand, some edible roots in the other. Wordlessly he tossed them to Aeris who out of reflex caught them. Looking in askance towards the silent swordsman, Aeris received no answer, so she set about roasting the tubers next to the sizzling creatures. After a long drink from the water skin, Aeris curled her legs up to her chest and sat watching the fire as the food cooked.

Throughout the whole time, Sephiroth remained silent, lost in his thoughts. He only glanced up when Aeris moved to retrieve the food from the fire before it burned. He blinked when he saw the large rodent he had caught earlier thrust in his face along with one of the tubers he had found. When Sephiroth took the food from Aeris he didn't miss the small smile she made when she thought that he wasn't paying attention. He left the Cetra to her amusements, as long as she wasn't being annoying her presence was tolerable. Sephiroth scowled, he was getting too soft towards that dammed Cetra. _Once I get to Emal continent, I'll get rid of that Cetra for good_ Sephiroth resolved, his own words sounding unconvincing even to himself.

It was getting late and the moon was dipping down towards the eastern horizon. Aeris yawned, the days events had seriously drained her. She moved around a few times before settling down.

Sephiroth looked over and noticed that Aeris was asleep. He stifled a yawn, he also was exhausted by his earlier actions during the daylight hours. Teleporting three times in one day, not to mention from recovering from a wound that almost killed him was definitely not a good way to conserve energy. For once Sephiroth put aside his pride that demanded that he remain awake, and he too drifted off into Morphious' realm.

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In the back of Sephiroth's mind Jenova smiled, her son was already in the process of completing the prophecy. _Soon the planet will know great sorrow_ Jenova thought with relish.

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A crash caused by a branch falling brought both Aeris and Sephiroth out of slumber and on full alert. Aeris stretched and dusted herself before getting to her feet while Sephiroth was checking over his gear. The soft thrumming of the planet brought Aeris' attention over to a tree a few feet away. Hanging from its lowest branches were several plump, purple globular fruits that hung from the bottom branches of the giant tree. Using a stick to dislodge several, Aeris picked up the fallen fruit and took them back to camp. Walking past Sephiroth, he grabbed half of the fruit without asking from her arms while Aeris swallowed a sigh. She hungrily finished off her fruit, its nutrients and energy needed to replenish her magic.

Sephiroth discarded the remains of his breakfast and started walking back into the jungle, he wanted to get off this island quickly since there was no longer anything he needed to do here. Before he could reach up to grab the Cetra to get her moving, Aeris got up and started walking after him, deftly avoiding his grasp. He was amused at the Cetra's actions, she was finally starting to learn. Maybe now she would stop being so obnoxious. That thought was dispelled when she started whistling. Sephiroth shot her a glare, she didn't seem to notice.

Aeris, contrary to her current position, was enjoying herself. She couldn't help it, surrounded by the planet's song and beauty in a blissfully warm climate with birdsong coming down from the forest's canopy, it was hard not to enjoy life. Without knowing it she started to whistle, a childhood habit that had stuck all these years that came out whenever she was truly content and happy. The last time she had felt like this was the day that she and Zack had spent together. _I wonder how he's doing now? Did he reach his dream of becoming a high ranking soldier in the army? Does he still remember me, I wouldn't blame him for moving on, it has been five years after all _Aeris mused. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sephiroth halted and she almost ran into a tree.

"Shut up Cetra, you are alerting all the predators to our location with your tone-deaf whistling," Sephiroth stated.

Aeris was caught off guard, she had gotten used to his silence. Hearing him speak to her again was a bit unsettling. The herbalist realized that Sephiroth was right and stopped without argument. _The less I annoy him, the more likely he will leave me alone_ Aeris figured. But she was in such a good mood that even an ill-tempered Sephiroth couldn't ruin it. For some reason she had the feeling that she would be meeting someone she cared about very much soon. Aeris just wondered how they would get off the island without a boat, they were at least fifty miles out in the middle of the ocean.

After another hour of walking, Aeris and Sephiroth exited the jungle's interior and stepped out onto the pebbly sand of the beach. The cool sea breeze felt so good, even Aeris had to admit that the humidity of the jungle was starting to become dreary and oppressive.

"So, umm, what are you going to do now Sephiroth, it's not like we can get off the island," Aeris mentioned.

"Stupid Cetra," he replied, "you really do have a memory of fishing net, all holes and little content."

Aeris chose to ignore his insult, she found she was getting used to such remarks coming from Sephiroth. She continued to walk towards the sea, the waves gently lapping over the pebbly sand. Aeris didn't care about what he said, all she wanted to do was to cool her hot aching feet in the salt water.

No matter what she did, the Cetra always managed to annoy him. When he wants her to shut up, she doesn't. When he wants her to listen to him, she ignores him, just like she is currently doing. Sephiroth watched the girl as she practically ran to the water, throwing her boots off and flinging them away in random directions as she went.

"Ahhh," Aeris sighed as the water closed over her feet, "that hits the spot. Why don't you join me Sephiroth?"

"I have no need of such things Cetra, you're just being foolish," Sephiroth answered.

"No matter, I was just finishing cooling off my feet. Now what do we do o violence-is-my-way-of-life one? We're stuck on this island anyway, there is not much we can do, except build a raft," Aeris spoke as she retrieved her boots.

Instead of answering her, Sephiroth simply walked to her, grabbed her around the waist and started running. Aeris let a surprised squawk at the abrupt departure of her feet from the sand and glared at sprinting warrior. She wasn't prepared at all when they reached the other end of the beach for the mighty leap Sephiroth made, vaulting them at least twenty feet into the air. Closing her eyes and bracing for impact into the ocean, she felt nothing but the wind in her face. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes only to shut them again quickly at the dizzy spell that hit her. She couldn't believe it, they were _flying_ for Gaia's sake. _Actually, I can believe it _Aeris thought as she recalled her first sight of the homicidal swordsman for the first time in five years, _he was flying then too…_ She felt nauseous, Sephiroth's arm was digging into her stomach and the slight swerving caused by the wind resistance generated during their passage wasn't helping very much either. Aeris let out a moan, this was going to be a looooong flight.

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Three hours later, a very weary and airsick girl dropped ungraciously to the ground. _Thank heavens that it's over!_ she thought. She never wanted to do that again ever. She had never felt as awful in her life. It didn't help that due to the position that Sephiroth was carrying her in that basically left her whole body hanging in mid air except where Sephiroth's arm was curled around her waist. Aeris could tell that Sephiroth was amused at her discomfort, even though she wasn't looking at him.

"I hate you," she moaned.

"The feeling is mutual Cetra," Sephiroth replied.

After a few more minutes of feeling like everything was swirling around inside of her, Aeris shakily got up. She dimly took in her surroundings. They had landed on another beach, this one filled with fine alabaster colored sand instead of pebbles. About thirty feet off the beach turned into dunes, grass and various weeds growing along the tops. _Lovely_ Aeris thought _more walking_. Sephiroth was already climbing the first dune and Aeris ran to catch up, knowing to keep up. Walking on her own two feet was much better than being slung over the swordsman's shoulder and having his shoulder guard digging into her side any day. It took thirty minutes to transverse the sand dunes and Aeris was ready to collapse, it had been a very long and crummy day.

As if sensing her change in mood, Sephiroth blandly spoke, "keep moving Cetra."

Thoroughly grumpy by now, Aeris said, "could you at least use my name? Its not that hard."

"No," was his reply.

She sighed, _why me? If it weren't for that stupid prophecy none of this would be happening to me now. I would be happily married, hopefully to Zack, with 1.5 kids and a dog. There is no way in hell that I could fall in love with THAT, the person who concocted that prophecy must have been loony. _Aeris sighed again,_ I really wish that Zack was here now, he would chase Sephiroth off and we could live in our own version of happily ever after. _

Lost in her musings, Aeris didn't realize that Sephiroth had stopped until she was several feet past him. Glancing at him she saw that he was on full alert. Not a second later a dozen figures sprung out of the grass at the pair. Before any of them could even get within three feet of Aeris, they were all dead and blood was dripping off Masamune's blade.

"Why did you kill them!" Aeris yelled at Sephiroth, "they didn't deserve to die even if they did attack us. They might have just been protecting their homes when you mercilessly slaughtered them!"

"They were bandits you dolt, they would have slit your throat without a second thought," Sephiroth irritably spoke, "anyway, I was doing the planet a favor by removing such scum from its surface. Trash like that doesn't deserve to live anyway."

"You're a heartless monster and a murderer Sephiroth," Aeris hissed, "you're worse than those thugs you just killed. It is you who doesn't deserve to live."

As soon as those last words left her mouth, Aeris knew that she had made a mistake. Sephiroth's eyes were smoldering, he whipped out his sword and was about to dispose of her once and for all when he let out an anguished cry. He dropped Masamune and backed up a few feet clutching his head. She heard him pleading with something called "Mother" to forgive him and promising not to do it again.

As the blinding pain from Jenova's fury left his head, Sephiroth forcibly stilled his shaking limbs and glared at Aeris with pure hatred. He couldn't believe that Mother had sided with the dammed Cetra, her exact words were –Stop acting like a spoiled brat Sephiroth, the girl had every right to be angry at you.- Her insistence of keeping that bitch alive irritated him to no end. Just thinking about her opinion on his violent tendencies put him in a foul mood. She had said, -Next time you need to take your frustration out on something, make sure you do it out of the Cetra's range. We do need her cooperation when it comes time to use the Black Matera and having her hate for you for your blatant disregard to her sensibilities will not help us secure it.-

Sephiroth felt someone was observing him. He looked up and unsurprisingly he found the Cetra had been watching him, she had probably been staring at him for the whole time Mother had been "lecturing" him about the Cetra's worth. The after effects of Jenova's punishment of Sephiroth trying to kill the Cetra were starting to develop as he picked his sword off the ground and resheathed it. The throbbing headache that was emerging made his mood even worse. He decided that he wasn't up to listening to the Cetra's questions and remarks that would invariably come if they continued traveling for the few hours that were left before sunset. So he went about looking for a place to camp with a firm "stay put" told to the confused herbalist. Fifteen minutes later he had located a suitable place to camp near a stream that flowed through a small copse of scrub trees.

Sephiroth was about to leave to retrieve the girl when she walked into the enclosed area formed by the thicket of the scrub trees. He let out an exasperated sigh, it seemed that the wench could not even follow a simple command to not move. Either that or she really did love courting danger. His attention was caught by the object in her hand that was dully reflecting the afternoon sunlight into his eyes. It appeared that the girl had taken the liberty of relieving the dead bandits of at least one of their possessions, a tarnished, soot-stained cooking pot. Apparently she was tired of eating crispy rodent a-la flambé which had been their main meal for the past two days. He bemusedly watched Aeris as she took the battered pot to the stream and gave it a through scouring with some sand from the stream bank. While she was cleaning the pot Sephiroth got up and went looking for some food to add to the pot. He came across another one of the infamous unidentifiable rodents that lived in every part of the Emal continent and surrounding islands and quickly killed it. He also found some similar roots to what had been growing on the Ancient Isle along with some mushrooms that appeared to be edible.

When Sephiroth disappeared into the brush, Aeris set about making a fire. Reaching for her flint and striker her hands encountered only empty space before she remembered that it had been lost after she had dived into the ocean after Sephiroth. Aeris really didn't want to use her powers so soon again after healing Sephiroth, but it was either that or eat raw tubers. She opted for soup. Calling upon her inner powers she channeled heat into her fingertips and when they were sufficiently hot enough, she set them on the kindling and released the energy. The kindling immediately caught the sparks and a flickering flame was dancing among the sticks a few seconds afterwards. After the fire had enough fuel in it to last thirty minutes without having to add more, Aeris filled the newly acquired pot with water from the stream and set it to boiling above the fire. As the water's temperature heated, she added some of the wild barley and rice she had found in the meadow as she went after Sephiroth. Aeris also put in a generous pinch of a sharp smelling herb from a watertight packet that had survived the dunk in the ocean and following events that occurred afterwards.

The soup was happily starting to simmer as Aeris walked to the stream and quickly stripped to her under clothing. She then proceeded to use the sand on the stream bank to thoroughly remove all the grit from her skin that had been accumulating for the past two days. A now pink skinned Aeris had just finished putting her dress back on when Sephiroth came back to the campsite carrying some food he had collected in the thicket. Aeris scrunched up her nose when she noticed the same type of detestable rodent that she had eaten for the past few days along with the too familiar typical tubers that grew just about everywhere. But she brightened up when she noticed the mushrooms that he had found. While Sephiroth efficiently skinned and chopped up the rodent, Aeris had picked up the mushrooms and was sufficiently pleased that Sephiroth hadn't brought back any of the poisonous species of mushroom. They were quickly added to the pot along with the meat and chopped roots.

After all the ingredients had been added to the soup and it had stewed for an appropriate amount of time, Aeris carefully removed the pot and poured a generous portion into two cups that she had found along with the pot. She handed one to Sephiroth who wordlessly took it and then pulled out another waterproof packet from a pocket in her off-blue coat. Opening the packet, she took a large pinch of the mysterious sweet smelling herb and stirred it into her soup. This seemed very suspicious to Sephiroth.

"What are you doing Cet- Aeris?" he warily asked.

Aeris was startled to actually hear her name come from Sephiroth. _Maybe there is some hope for him yet_ Aeris thought.

"I'm on my moon cycle, this herb is to help relieve some of the more unpleasant parts of it," Aeris replied, "without it I would get really cranky due to cramps, any problem with that?"

"No," was his one word answer. Like all males on the planet, Sephiroth got uncomfortable around the subject of a woman's menstruation cycle.

Aeris was glad that he had accepted her answer so readily. She was pretty sure that that explanation would work but if it didn't she wasn't sure that her hastily formed plan would get by Sephiroth's keen senses. She hated herself for being so deceitful, but she really had no choice. Aeris really had no idea why she was feeling so guilty about what she had done to Sephiroth, especially since he had tried to kill her yet again today. The thought _he really is starting to grow on me_ passed through her head. She mentally slapped herself, for her sake and the sake of the planet she couldn't afford such thoughts. It only made what she would do later tonight all the more important. No matter what the prophecy couldn't come to pass.

During the time Aeris had been absentmindedly stirring her food Sephiroth was observing Aeris' body language, looking for any sign of uneasiness on her part. When her mental inspection was over, she looked down and realizing that her soup was rapidly cooling and starting eating it with a gusto. His suspicious nature reassured, Sephiroth started consuming his meal as well. Not too long after they had finished and cleaned up, Aeris let out a big yawn. It was still early in the evening, the stars were just starting to come out, yet Sephiroth too felt the same weariness that the herbalist was showing signs of. As Aeris prepared her sleeping area, Sephiroth put out the fire, since there was no need for it in this warm area, he sat down with his back leaning against a tree facing Aeris. Just because she seemed to be more comfortable around him didn't mean that he didn't trust her not to try to pull something. With that last thought Sephiroth closed his eyes and sleep claimed him soon thereafter.

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The moon was at the peak of its path through the night sky when Aeris woke up. She cautiously got up and approached Sephiroth's sleeping form. She bit her lip, this was the moment when she had been waiting for all night, it was now do or die time. Nervously Aeris extended a trembling finger towards the sleeping warrior. If he woke up everything would be over and she would never get another chance to get away from him. Judging by his soft rhythmic breathing, he was in a deep, dreamless slumber. Banishing all doubts from her mind, Aeris gently but firmly poked Sephiroth's chest, not even a twitch. Aeris let out a muffled sigh of relief, the herb had worked. She was afraid the herb she had put into the soup wouldn't be strong enough to knock out the tough warrior. Her excuse of being on her period had effectively masked the purpose of the herb she had added to her own cup. The first herb that she had added to the soup was a strong sedative that when given in the dose that she had used put the patient under a deep, cationic slumber for a number of days. The only reason why she wasn't dead to the world as well was because of the second herb she had added to her own cup. One of its main properties was that it counter acted the effect of the first drug, but even still Aeris still felt dopey from the first herb's effect.

Now assured that Sephiroth would be out for at least 24 hours, Aeris was a bit less careful to keep the amount of noise down as she collected her belongings. Aeris still felt guilty about drugging Sephiroth, but she knew that she had to do it since she couldn't bring herself to harm any living thing, even her would-be killer. Time was precious and she had to get moving to put as much distance between her and the slumbering swordsman as possible before he woke up to find her missing. Aeris knew that there would be hell to pay if he ever found her again, so she had to get as deep into the wilderness as she could, possibly even get to another continent if she had the chance.

Aeris followed the South Star since she had no idea where she was. By doing so, she would eventually hit the large, heavily forested mountain range deep in the interior of the mountains. A person could spend their whole life there and not meet another human because of its high peaks, deep ravines, hidden valleys and intricate cave system. In fact many an explorer had gone into there and never returned. The only advantage Aeris had over those seasoned outdoorsmen was her connection with the planet, with that she could never truly get lost. This was her best chance to prevent the prophecy from ever occurring while being able to live out her natural lifespan. Aeris knew that her decision was desperate and that she was choosing a life of loneliness and hardship, but wasn't her life like that already?

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For two days Aeris had been swiftly traveling south at a steady pace, barely taking anytime to eat or rest. She was exhausted and filthy, but she was beginning to hope that she might have just been able to pull off her plan. She had covered at least half of the distance she intended to travel and currently she was in the hills covered in thick scrub that were the precursors to the true foothills of the mountains. There were plenty of places to take cover in around here if someone came upon her. Aeris was so busy planning her travel route for the next two days that she literally stumbled upon on well used road. A bolt of fear shot through her. There was a high chance that she could be discovered if she stayed near the road, but the problem was that the road traveled in the exact direction she was heading towards. If she detoured around it she would lose at least a day's worth of travel time.

Deciding to take the risk to conserve time, Aeris set off down the road, trying her best to look like a normal traveler. She hadn't been walking for long when Aeris heard the unmistakable sound of footfalls. Her instincts were telling her to hide, but she knew that if she rushed off that the people behind her would hear her escape and most likely come after her. So Aeris deliberately slowed her pace and acted like she had every right to be where she was. Within a few minutes the snippets of a conversation floated through the air to Aeris. Forcing herself to relax, Aeris assumed a self-involved look that many travelers on the road wear. As the people got closer, Aeris swore that one of the voices was familiar to her. She knew who it belonged to, but for the life of her she couldn't come up with a name to match the voice.

"Oh my God. Aeris is that you?" a strong masculine voice asked.

Aeris swiftly turned around, and was completely floored by whom that oh-so-familiar voice belonged to. She hadn't seen him for five years.

"ZACK!" Aeris joyfully yelled as she launched herself at him.

Laughing her caught her mid-air and spun her around several times before depositing her on the ground.

"What, when, why, h-how did you get here?" a flabbergasted Aeris asked the excited black haired man, "I thought that you were going to serve in the army on Werley continent."

"I see that you two have some catching up to do, so I'll go on ahead," Zack's traveling companion said and walked off.

"See ya," he replied. They watched him go off.

"I had served for two years at the fort in Galey village, when I was restationed to Shale on Emal continent, something about a possible uprising of religious fanatics," Zack explained, "Luckily for the townspeople and unluckily for me nothing happened. Those were the three most boring years of my life. Thank god it's over. I 'm now on a six month break before returning to my post and I intent to enjoy every moment of freedom, especially now that I've finally found you Aeris."

"Aw, poor Zackary. All work and no fighting makes Zackey a bored boy," Aeris joked.

"Damn straight sugar, but now maybe now I can finally get some action."

"Well whatever crazy plans that are forming in your head, count me in. I haven't had much time to just let loose these last five years either."

"Wow, I never thought that being an herbalist could demand so much time."

"Idiot don't you remember my training, that also took a lot of time. Being a full herbalist takes even more time and energy."

"Okay, okay. Don't get so preachy on me Aeris. But damn the years have treated you well. The last time I saw you, you were a scrawny little thing, always covered in dirt with leaves sticking in your hair."

"Hey!"

"Matter of fact you still are covered in dirt with leaves in your hair. I guess that you haven't changed much after all."

"I've changed more than you think," Aeris softly spoke.

"What did you just say Aeris?"

"Oh nothing of importance, so tell me, what have you been doing these last five years?"

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Sephiroth awoke to the sound of birdsong in the morning of what promised to be a very hot day. He felt stiff all over, his eyes and mouth felt all gummy and his head felt like it was full of cotton. He knew that his sleep was much deeper than natural, what he didn't know was what had caused his stupor. Slowly opening his eyes, Sephiroth hissed when bright sunlight stabbed into them, giving him an instant headache. Squinting against the bright sunlight Sephiroth shakily climbed to his feet and stumbled over to the stream where he ungracefully dunked his whole head into the cold running water.

The cold water did its job and cleared up Sephiroth's head, he no longer had the gummy feeling in his eyes or mouth but he was still stiff. Water dripping off his long bedraggled hair, Sephiroth took survey of the campsite. The first thing he noticed was the very prominent absence of the Cetra followed by the absence of her belongings, including the battered cooking pot. He growled, that bitch had lied to him. She even had the gall to drug him and runoff as he slept. Mother's wishes or not, he was going to severely punish or just simply kill the wench when he caught up to her. Whatever he would do when he found her it would be painful.

By the looks of his sleeping place against the tree he had been out for at least two days. He also observed that Aeris had even left him some fruit, now slightly withered, for him when he woke up, how considerate of her. What a contradiction, she runs off and leaves me food because she is worried that I might be hungry when I wake up. Ignoring the offering, Sephiroth strapped Masamune to his back and set about searching for her trail. After half an hour of searching, Sephiroth was extremely frustrated. She just had to know how to disguise her trail, didn't she? He was just about to cut down the nearest thing with his sword to try to relieve some of his frustration when he noticed a partial footprint hidden under a ground hugging branch. _Looks like you slipped Cetra_ Sephiroth smugly thought _you may be clever, but I'm better. When I find you, I will make sure that you pay._

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Over the next few hours Aeris and Zack happily caught up on what had happened to each other over the five year separation. Zack told her all about his misadventures in boot camp while Aeris told Zack about her travels and the people she had met. She never mentioned her encounters with Sephiroth or of the many close calls she had had with people hunting her. Their conservation was light hearted, broken by the occasional indignant exclamation by either one of them. One thing was for certain, spending time with all those soldiers hadn't improved Zack's vocabulary very much. She particularly didn't like it when he made jokes about women's views or their virtue.

"So this broad comes up and we talking about the upcoming dog races and what mutt we thought would win, when she said that she had just come from the Sausy Bay port and had heard the 'most frightful rumor'," Zach rambled, imitating the woman in a high pitched voice that sounded horrible, "apparently the _Gull's Pride_ had vanished out at sea and many thought that sea wolves were to blame. But when the transport ship _Storm Rider_ made it to port three days late, the tale that a Cetra had snuck aboard and had disappeared during the voyage after a flying man attacked it quickly spread through the town."

Aeris stiffened when Zack's rambling had turned to the ill-fated voyage of the _Gull's Pride_. There was some way about how his tone slightly changed that alarmed her. He couldn't possibly know of her true heritage, she had been too careful to let anything slip during her time in Rose Fields. Her apprenticeship to Elymara had been an excellent cover for any seemingly "miraculous" recoveries, and they didn't happen more than once or twice. She had even found her true calling as an herbalist, so her apprenticeship had served two purposes for her.

"It's a real shame," Zack's words cut into her thoughts, "I heard that the Cetra was a real looker. If I were her I would have bedded with the first semi-attractive man I could find, that way her role in the prophecy would be void."

Aeris was morbidly curious to learn what Zack meant, but refrained from asking him to explain in fear that he would read more into her interest other than simple curiosity. She really didn't like the way Zack had portrayed the "unknown" Cetra. That, along with his more crude way of speaking and acting was really starting to make Aeris worried. The youth who had left Rose Fields wasn't the same person as the man who was talking to her right now. Instead of being naively confident, he was now darker and more dangerous. Aeris even found herself wishing for Sephiroth's company as she continued to travel with Zack. The looks her kept shooting at her when she was looking didn't make her feel anymore secure. There was a menacing glimmer in his eyes as he continued to talk that Aeris didn't like one bit. She knew that it would probably be in her best interests to get away from Zack, but the part of her that remembered the energetic youth from the valley held her back.

It was mid afternoon when Zack mentioned a hut nearby where they could take a break. Sweaty and sun-baked, Aeris ignored the voice in the back of her head that feebly gave warning, after hours walking under the hot sun it was barely even a whisper. Taking a small side trail that led off the road, Aeris was relived when they were covered by the shadows of a huge cottonwood tree grove. After about another ten minutes of walking, they came upon a small, well maintained traveler's shelter. Zack went inside and Aeris wandered around to the back of the shelter where she knew a water pump would most likely be. A few minutes later, Zack emerged from the building and joined Aeris at washing off the sweat and dust that they had accumulated on the road.

Zack was in the process of filling up a small bucket to dump over his head when Aeris went inside the hut to see what it had. An empty fireplace, a stack of dry wood, a musty, straw box mattress, and a rack to hang up cloaks near the door was all that it contained. The creak of the door closing signaled Zack's entrance.

"Just right," he murmured so softly that Aeris didn't catch it, "we should rest for about thirty minutes and then head off, by then the temperature should have cooled a bit and be more pleasant out."

"Sounds good," Aeris absentmindedly answered. She was enjoying resting her sore feet too much to really care and hardly noticed when Zack moved closer.

"You know Aeris, I couldn't help noticing that you've become a very attractive woman over the five years since we've last met. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I'm more than ready to go to the next level," Zack said.

"What do you mean?" a slightly wary Aeris asked.

"Common 'Ris, we're both adults now," Zack said as her started stroking Aeris' hair, "there's no reason why we can't become more intimate, we're both ready for the next step."

"I don't quite get what you're saying Zack," Aeris stated as she started edging away from him. The voice in the back of her head was now sharply trilling at her to get out of there.

Zack's hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

"I think that you do know what I mean Aeris," Zack darkly spoke, "I mean, why not? I want you bad Aeris, do you have any idea what you are doing to me now? It wouldn't be so bad, this way you could be free from the prophecy permanently without being killed."

"You knew?" Aeris asked apprehensively.

"How could I not?" Zack answered heatedly, "Those people who 'miraculously' recovered were practically on their deathbeds when they all of a sudden got better. And who was the person who had attended them? It was you Aeris, every time. It wasn't hard to put two and two together, since the Cetra were known to have magical healing powers among other kinds of unnatural abilities. The prophecy clearly states 'the Cetra MAIDEN' Aeris, if you're no longer a virgin, the prophecy is void."

"No Zack! Not like this, please!" Aeris begged.

"Shut up Aeris, this is the only to save you. I won't let anyone take you away from me again, you belong to me and no one else, you hear me?" Zack yelled as he hauled her to the straw box-bed.

"Now be a good girl and sit back and enjoy this," Zack cooed as her forced her onto the mattress and held her arms above her head. He started to fumble with the buttons of her jacket one handed. Swearing, he ripped it off and flung the piece of material away.

"Zack stop!" Aeris screamed as he tore her shirt down the middle, exposing her breasts to the air. He roughly ran his thumb across her tit and gave her breast a painful squeeze.

By now Aeris could clearly see the large lump in Zack's pants and put up a renewed struggle to escape.

"Stop squiring Aeris, you're making this more difficult that it has to be," he snapped.

Aeris' screams became more incoherent and frantic as Zack pulled up her dress, allowing him to see her underwear. He hooked a thumb through the piece of cloth and drew it down her legs. He growled when he saw her womanhood. Still holding her arms above her head, Zack quickly divested himself of his pants as if he had done it many times before. Positioning his errection at her entrance, Aeris screamed for all her worth hoping that someone would hear and come stop Zack.

"Damn, this is going to feel so go-" Zack was stopped mid sentence when a long, familiar blade erupted from his shoulder.

He dumbly stared at it until he was thrown to the opposite side of the room, revealing the sword's silver haired wielder. Aeris sobbed, someone had heard her screams sure enough, and it was the last person she would have wanted to. Her ill-fated savior was beyond pissed judging by the look in his eyes and Aeris thought that she had been safer with Zack.

"Sephiroth don't do it!" Aeris shouted as if she could predict what would happen next.

"Why should this piece of filth live Cetra?" Sephiroth asked in an icy voice, "did he not try to debase you? Why do you protect this worthless human?"

"All life is sacred. No one deserves to be killed when they are helpless, Sephiroth. So please just let him be," Aeris pleaded.

"It doesn't matter Cetra, all the humans must die in the process of purging this planet. This one just won't survive to be destroyed by the Black Matera summon," Sephiroth hissed, "he should be thankful, a death on Masamune will be much more merciful than what will happen to the rest of the humans when they are purged from the planet by Meteor."

Aeris knew that she could never convince him to change his mind, so when Sephiroth raised his sword to make the finishing blow, she threw herself in front of Zack. Sephiroth snarled, wrenched her off Zack and threw her across the room. Aeris hit the opposite wall hard with a sickening crunch. She winced in pain. That impact had cracked, if not broken, one or more of her ribs. Aeris kept her eyes down, there was no way she could stop Sephiroth now and she didn't want to see the grim scene. Still in very much in pain, Aeris started crawling to the door. On her way, her fingers brushed against a course material. It was Zack's wool cloak that he had taken off due to the hot sun. She used it to cover herself, not caring about how hot out it was, since her jacket was no longer serviceable and her dress was ruined. Aeris heard a swish and a short scream, then the sound of Sephiroth's boots on the wooden floor as he walked towards her. A sharp sword tip came into her field of vision, blood dripping off it onto the floor.

"Get up," was Sephiroth's curt command.

He waited as she slowly, painfully got off her knees and onto her feet. Sephiroth uttered not another word as he headed toward the door, Aeris trailing behind. She too was silent, but out of fear that Sephiroth would snap at the slightest thing and lash out, possibly killing her on the spot. They walked for an hour through the scrubland, Aeris steadily getting weaker the further they went.

Sephiroth barely bothered to check up on the girl, he knew that she was in no shape to try and flee again. He still couldn't believe that he hadn't killed her along with her forceful lover back at the shelter. The only possible reason he hadn't was probably due to his Mother's unending promises of punishment if he did kill the Cetra and her reminders that that they still needed her to help use the Black Matera. Afterwards though…

A quiet thump alerted Sephiroth to the fact that the Cetra had collapsed. He was surprised that she had made it that far after traveling two days practically non-stop and then getting her ribs damaged back at the shelter. Sephiroth groaned, he really didn't want to carry the Cetra again, but unless he wanted to make camp here, he would have to so he could continue south. Mindful of her cracked ribs, Sephiroth actually carried Aeris in his arms instead of flinging her over his shoulder. The girl secured, Sephiroth walked off further into the foothills of the central mountain range.

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Sorry about the long update period. I have four words: studying for evil midterms. Hopefully now the updates can come a bit faster, but be warned when finals come round, the updates will come even slower. But hey, no evil cliffy this time.

Ch.5 five will probably be out in a week or two depending on school work.

To Aria Celeste- sometimes it is just appropriate to end a chapter with a cliffy, but not this one. I'm glad that you are enjoying my fic, hope to hear from you again.

To thegr8sephiroth- I tried to avoid that type of portrayal of Sephiroth as much as possible, but the only way I was able to get some humor into that chapter was by using it. Hopefully you don't think that there is too much of it in this one. I hope that my story will fulfill your expectations. Hope that your firebug problem gets worked out…

To mihoyonagi- high praise indeed. The best stories I find are the ones that do just that. I'm estactic that you think my story one of them. Well, I hope that you didn't get too attached to Zach considering what happened in this chapter. After this chapter he won't be around anymore…

To dragonfly63126- well here's your update, but no romance I'm afraid. That comes later and will occur over several chapters I think.

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them, both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in.


	5. In the Claws of Danger

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters.

Ch.5- In the Claws of Danger

Fire. The world was on fire, she was on fire. The burning pain in her chest reflected the blazing mass that was hurdling towards the planet. She saw a figure surrounded by black energy collapse, a small tink alerting her to the round, glassy black object that fell out of its hand. A flicker at the edge of her vision made her turn. Another figure arose, its pink aura flickering weakly. In its hand was a softly glowing orb that the figure was feeding into energy into. As the blazing rock came closer, the glow from the orb grew stronger as the figure's aura grew weaker. Just as the rock hit the outer layers of the atmosphere, the figure holding the orb crumpled to the ground, its energy spent. White whisps were gently flaring from the orb's surface, akin to solar flares.

The burning rock was descending faster. White light erupted from the orb. The two energies rushed towards each other. The now lifeless orb fell to the ground. The light and the rock met in a clash of powers. The roar wiped out everything. The meteor was gaining headway. The light was weakening. It sputtered out. The rock impacted with the planet's surface. Fire engulfed everything. The planet became a blazing sphere. Then with a final deafening boom, silence.

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Sephiroth studied the sleeping Cetra as her body twisted and turned, caught in the throes of her nightmare. Despite his immovable resolve to have nothing to do with the girl, he found himself constantly beside her. It was like he was a boomerang, every time they got separated he kept coming back for her. Sephiroth no longer had that violent urge to run Masamune through her, though he still wished that there was someway to make her stop being an annoyance to him. But wishing for that was like wishing for the oceans to freeze, neither could happen within ten thousand years. Ironically enough, the next ice age was due in about 9,852 years, so Sephiroth might just get his wish.

A sudden gasp marked the Cetra's return from the land of dreams. There was a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead that glistened in the firelight while she took a few moments to collect herself. Waking up straight from her dream left her disoriented and it took her a few seconds before she realized that the fire that she thought was coming from Meteor's descent was actually a small campfire. While without a doubt her dream was terrifying, it had also left her with a sense of desolation and hopelessness. In her dream it had seemed that when the figure with the black energy collapsed, a feeling of remorse and sadness spread from it. Even now the utter emptiness and desolation of the void left of the planet after the final explosion still echoed in her soul. Aeris wondered if she would ever truly be free from that image of her dream, its shadows would probably cling to her for the rest of her existence.

Even though it was a warm night, Aeris shivered and moved closer to the fire. The nightmare had left her cold and shaking down to her bones. For a while she just stared into the heart of the fire, letting its flickering warmth fill her mind and warm her soul, banishing the remnants of the icy chill of the abyss left from her dream. She finally looked up from the fire to see Sephiroth contemplating her profile. Aeris was still surprised that she was even alive after she had drugged Sephiroth and run away. The anger that she saw in his eyes back in the traveler's shelter made her feel that those were truly her last moments of her life. Yet for some reason all he had done was throw her into a wall and kill her aggressive companion. Her relationship with the enigmatic silver haired warrior was confusing at best. The only thought in her head was…

"Why?"

"Why what Cetra?" Sephiroth finally replied after a few seconds.

"Why you? Why me? Why has all of this happened?" Aeris dazedly asked.

"You're not making sense Cetra, if you have something to ask make sure you can vocalize your intentions," Sephiroth stated, "If you have nothing worthwhile to inquire about, don't. You're wasting my time."

"Why do I even exist? Wouldn't the world be better off if I hadn't been born?" Aeris murmured.

"Very possibly, but I don't see any point in this discussion," Sephiroth remarked, his tone becoming slightly irritated.

Aeris sighed. She wouldn't get any answers out of the tight lipped soldier to help calm her troubled soul. Probably no one could give her an answer, at least one that she could understand at any rate. The prophecy, her own jumbled emotions, the planet's cryptic messages, her troubled dreams, Sephiroth; they were all making her mind a whirling mass of confused and random fragments and thoughts. She just didn't know what to do, believe or think any more. She had no support, like a leaf tumbling in the wind.

Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten in quite a while. Aeris hopefully looked at Sephiroth. He snorted and threw her an uncooked tuber. Aeris looked down at it with dismay and sighed. It looked like Sephiroth didn't have much variety in his diet. Whatever he gathered was what was available to Aeris for dinner. _If he doesn't kill me, his bland diet will make me die of boredom_ Aeris thought. She wrinkled her nose, tasteless tubers and UFC's (Unidentified Furry Creatures) were becoming so tiresome.

Sephiroth caught the look she cast upon the root he had tossed to her. Who cared if she was tired of roast rodent and roots? She would live (contrary to his lingering wishes on the matter). If she had a problem with what he provided, too bad. He refused to waste time doing such frivolous things as going out of his way to get different provisions for their consumption. What was available in the immediate vicinity would do for foodstuffs.

"Stop staring at the root as if it had grown hair, just eat it or give it back Cetra," Sephiroth idly told her.

Aeris sighed again. She might as well eat it, there was nothing else around to eat that she could see. At least she could add some of her herbs to give it some flavor. Things for her looked as bleak as ever since she had encountered Sephiroth on board the _Storm Rider_. If she had to stay with him at least she could endure his company on a full stomach. Once the root had baked long enough to soften it up, Aeris retrieved the unappetizing tuber from the fire and found that all of her remaining herb packets were missing.

"Sephiroth where are my herbs?" Aeris asked, bemused.

"Stupid girl, do you really think that I would let you keep those things after that stunt you pulled?" Sephiroth replied, a hint of anger coming into his voice.

Aeris stayed silent. She felt like she had been deprived of even the basic comforts of home. Her medicines and herbs were like the last connection she had with her childhood, without them the world seemed less familiar and more sinister. For her they were a defense against assailants, a weapon against disease and a somewhat reliable source of income. She half-heartedly picked at her food for a while and it was cold by the time she finished it. Sad and depressed Aeris just lay down with her back to the fire and fell asleep.

* * *

Sephiroth woke at false dawn. Even though the sun had not even risen, the air was warm, promising another hot and dusty day. Ever since he started traveling with Aeris he had slowly been slipping into the habit of going to sleep not long after the herbalist did. In his dreams his mother whispered visions of what would come to be after the planet was scourged of the filth of humanity. Everything he had ever wished for would come true after he and the Cetra summoned Meteor. It was slightly suspicious however that he never saw what became of the girl after Meteor impacted. He figured that she would have died from the summoning of the black spell or that he disposed of her. Yet any thoughts he had about that subject never brought up his earlier intense desire to do so. While he no longer yearned to run Masamune through her slender body, he did wish that he could just go on without her. She was still just as irritating as ever. _Speaking of said Cetra_ Sephiroth noted as she started showing signs of awareness, _why does mother seem so eager to make the prophecy come to pass. Surely she wouldn't want me succumbing to that weak and pitiful human emotion. _He tried inquiring about his thoughts to Jenova, but she didn't answer.

While the Cetra's flight had originally seemed to him as a setback, it was ironic that she had headed in the direction that he had intended to follow in the first place. Sephiroth didn't know why he was heading towards the central mountain range, it would save several days worth of travel to detour around it, but he knew that something important awaited him in the heart of the range. He felt that it would greatly accelerate his plans if he played his cards right.

As Aeris' eyelids started fluttering, Sephiroth got up and went in search of breakfast. By the time he came back with a few handfuls of some berries that he had found, she was fully awake and smothering the last dying coals of the previous night's fire. After she finished, he dropped all of the fruit into her lap, having already eaten his fill when he was out looking for food. Apparently she approved of his selection since she flashed him a grateful smile before making short work of her meal. He recalled her reaction about dinner last night and reflected how something so insignificant as getting fresh fruit seemed to really lift her spirits. The sun was halfway up when Aeris got up and started walking in the same direction as she had been traveling for the past few days, to the heart of the Emal continent. _She really is starting to settle into a routine with me_ Sephiroth mused as he caught up with her in a minute.

As they traveled south, the rolling hills of the grassland gradually got bigger and steeper. Instead of just walking over them, they started to walk in the gulleys that formed between the hills since it was easier than climbing over them at that point. If they kept traveling at their current pace they would easily reach the base of the mountains by mid-afternoon tommorrow. As time went on, a sense of anticipation and quickening filled the air. Aeris was sensing the change in the atmosphere as she unconsciously picked up her pace. She too noticed that the world seemed to be holding its breath, the almost unnatural quietness that surrounded them made everything seem so surreal.

To Sephiroth the environment around him felt like an unworldly passage that they were traveling through where time moved both faster and slower than in reality. When the Cetra started walking faster, so fast that she was almost running, Sephiroth knew that outside forces were at work around them, what they were feeling was not normal. Even as those thoughts went through his head, his stride had lengthened to keep up with Aeris' almost frantic rush. In the distance the first peaks of the central mountain range were just starting to become visible as they crested the top of the tallest hill yet. By now they were deep into the true foothills of the mountains and Sephiroth had to grab Aeris' arm to prevent her from taking a fall over a seven foot cliff that she hadn't noticed.

When Aeris felt Sephiroth halt her movement, the spell that she had fallen into as her pace got faster and faster broke. She blushed, how could she be so unobservant not to notice the abrupt end of the hill she had been walking on? She had been so absorbed with the heightened feeling of awareness of the land around her that she never realized how far and fast she had been traveling for the last few hours. Suddenly she felt the signals that her body had been sending her brain for the last hour. The pain in her ribs that had been sore at daybreak was now a pulsing, throbbing pressure that quickly sent Aeris to her knees. Beside the throbbing pain that was coming from her cracked rib, her legs were so sore that it hurt and her feet were aching terribly. Her breath came in short gasps as she tried to adjust to the now perceived soreness and aching of her body.

Sephiroth stood close by, impassively regarding her as she fell to her knees. He watched her struggle to adjust to her sore and aching body she had been previously ignoring. He didn't even bother to smirk at her foolish actions that had led her to her current state. He had faintly felt the forces that had been subtly affecting and guiding her. Aeris' only fault was being too inexperienced to notice what was going on and therefore was not able to resist the calling. _The only reason why I stopped her was to prevent her from breaking her skull or legs after she fell. It would be too much of a bother to get her to move with broken bones,_ Sephiroth thought. But even he knew that was just a transparent excuse.

As the brunette surveyed the landscape, Sephiroth was trying to figure just what was drawing him to the mountains. The feeling certainly didn't have any of his mother's telepathic traces in it. He knew that the Cetra supposedly could "hear" the planet, but he doubted that it could "talk" to him. Being Jenova's son blocked him from receiving any such messages, if in fact that the planet was even actually a sentient entity capable of communication with the life forms that dwelled on its surface. So some other power out there must be at work, perhaps it was destiny leading him towards his glorious fate. Possibly it was even influencing and making the Cetra more biddable to their plans. She too was being guided in the same direction as he was. It wouldn't be inconceivable the girl would finally realize that she had no choice but to do his bidding since he was the superior being. It is natural for the weak to follow the strong or be trampled by the more worthy and there wasn't a more worthy person on this miserable rock than him.

Aeris quizzically watched Sephiroth get lost in his thoughts, but when the arrogant smile spread across his lips, as if he was secure in his superiority, Aeris just rolled her eyes. _Figures. He's egotistical as well as being obscure, uncaring, temperamental, violent and blood thirsty_ Aeris thought with disdain. Apparently Sephiroth wasn't too absorbed in his power trip as he clearly noticed the disparaging look on her face.

"If you're quite done with your study of the dirt, its time to go Cetra," Sephiroth spoke across the hot, dry air.

Aeris didn't answer. She knew the petty arguments would get her no where considering present company. But if he kept on calling her Cetra or girl…she let the thought trail off. Aeris was sure that the topic would come up when it needed to, probably within a few hours depending on how often he called her something other than her name.

It was amazing how far they had traveled while Aeris was in that state of mind, out of touch with what was going on around her. The past few days of hard travel had certainly worn her down, but they also made her stronger. She was already recovering from her earlier collapse, a few days ago she would have been down for much longer. Aeris was already walking down the hill on a different route than via seven foot drop courtesy of a cliff. Within a few seconds she was cresting the top of the next foothill, her pace quick but not nearly as fast as it was before. Once again she was subconsciously following the same feeling that had earlier, but this time she wasn't get so influenced by it.

The feeling in the air that was about when they started was gone, but they still continued traveling in the same direction as before. It was late afternoon, close to sunset when they stopped and settled down for the night.

* * *

Sephiroth dreamed. He finally had accomplished his long and hard sought after goal, Meteor was blazing in the sky, about to crash onto the planet and wipe the disease known as humanity from its surface. He had everything he ever desired right in front of him, Mother was by his side and he had the greatest power on the planet at his beck and call. Together they would become gods and create a new world for the last of Jenova's scattered siblings where he would rule over them as an all powerful being in a perfect utopia. The only thing that bothered him was that he felt that a very small but vital thing was missing from his triumph.

* * *

Aqua green eyes slowly opened to the soft light that was shining upon Sephiroth. He had dreamed last night, a curious thing since he never dreamed often, unlike a certain herbalist. He had detachedly heard her mutter in her sleep even while he was in a semi-conscious state of half-sleep. Whatever she had mumbled was unclear so he didn't bother himself about it. He wondered what he could be possibly be missing from the perfect triumph that his dream showed him. He had everything he needed to execute it at hand, all he needed was to get to the right location to use the Black Matera and await Meteor's impact. That was probably where the feeling of something important was awaiting him was located. He was so eager to go to the next phase that he was almost impatient. How ironic that he was almost starting to understand some of the Cetra's emotions about his own actions. She was still baffling, but he could understand a little why she was exasperated with him occasionally. He certainly felt the same way about her often enough.

-Musing about the girl so early Sephiroth?- Jenova's voice slid into his mind. –You certainly are being more civil to the girl, even attentive to her needs sometimes. That pleases me greatly son. At this rate by the time you arrive at the appointed place the Cetra will be more than willing to do what she can only accomplish.-

Sephiroth was startled, Jenova had been silent for the past few days and he wasn't accustomed to talking with her daily anymore. –And what pray tell can only the Cetra accomplish Mother? You've always evaded my question every time it was brought up. If I must "escort" the girl around, at least I should know exactly why I am doing so- Sephiroth replied.

-All in good time my son. Don't want to ruin the surprise too early do we?- Jenova's presence slid back out of his mind. Much as he respected his mother, her deliberate withholding of information and obscurity was starting to irritate him (Ironic, ne? Like Mother, like son). It seemed like Jenova would only fully reveal the plan when he and Aeris reached their ultimate destination. So the sooner they reached it, the better. Sephiroth looked over at Aeris. Seemed like she wanted to sleep in today, that wouldn't be happening as he wanted to get moving NOW.

"Get up Cetra," Sephiroth spoke loudly. Aeris grumbled and turned over so that her back faced him.

"UP!" he shouted, grabbing her arm and shaking it for emphasis. He was totally unprepared for her reaction as she kicked him hard in the shin. Sephiroth was not amused. He was about to haul her to her feet when she sat up and glared at him for her rude and abrupt awakening.

"Asshole," Aeris muttered as she got up. Sephiroth ignored her uncharacteristic comment. His leg was still smarting from where her foot had hit it.

"At least tell me that there is breakfast," Aeris grumped. The world would be very sorry if she didn't eat today, Sephiroth especially.

"Breakfast is what you can find along the way Cetra. We're very close to our destination, you can rest after we reach it," Sephiroth stated. Technically, there was plenty of time to forage for a meal, but Sephiroth didn't feel like doing so. He wanted to go now.

Aeris huffed, reality would be veeeery sorry indeed. No food and getting up early equaled a very cranky Aeris. If she didn't get any food within an hour she would make sure that Sephiroth was miserable along with her. It wasn't hard.

* * *

Things would have been much worse for the two if Sephiroth hadn't stumbled upon a small tree with plump red fruits hanging on its lower branches in the small valley nestled between two foothills that were so big that they were almost mountains. Upon sighting the small tree that Sephiroth had got tangled up in, Aeris had let out an excited shriek and made a bee-line straight to the tree just as Sephiroth was about to use his sword to free his hair from its branches. As Aeris happily inhaled the red oval fruits that were about the size of a newborn's fist, Sephiroth sighed and set about untangling his hair from the tree's branches in a long-painstaking process. His growing ire at the innocent yet offending piece of vegetation had been abruptly cut off at the herbalist's joyful cry. It was amazing that the girl could annoy the hell out of him yet placate his anger before it could even grow to a level at which something would get hurt.

Fifteen minutes later Sephiroth had successfully untangled all of his long silver hair from the small tree's branches and Aeris had eaten her fill, which consequently was about half of all the fruit on the tree. She sighed, life was good with a stomach full of food on a warm day with a handsome man at her side. _Handsome man! Where did that come from?_ Aeris thought. She was confused at her sudden turn of thoughts. There was no denying that the silver-haired warrior definitely made an eye-catching figure. With his long silver hair, intense blue-green eyes, beautiful facial structure, and his tall, lean, whipcord frame, Sephiroth made for a stunningly attractive man. The only thing that he was lacking was a genuine smile that if shown, Aeris was sure could melt even the iciest woman's heart. _I almost wish he would smile like that for me,_ Aeris idly thought, her mind pleasantly clouded by the sleepy feeling that comes after a good meal, _it would almost be worth it to help him if he did._ Aeris was so sleepy and content that that last thought never fully registered in her mind and by the time it would have, she was asleep.

Sephiroth was too busy with is own thoughts to notice the appraising look that Aeris was sending him after she devoured half of the fruit on the tree and before she fell into a light doze. Why did this girl affect him so much? Ever since he had met her, his sudden violent tendencies had been becoming less frequent and his sharp, fiery anger became duller and less heated. He was even starting to tolerate many of the more annoying tendencies of the girl that when they had been on the Ancient Isle he had scorned her for.

One of the most annoying things about her, singing when she was untroubled and happy, that had annoyed the hell out of him at first. It was also one of the things that he had grown to appreciate about her first. Her songs were made up on the spur of the moment and reflected their surroundings. Her voice when singing only held positive emotions like happiness, joy, and tranquility. Never was it tinged with such things as regret, sorrow, pain or sadness. When he listened to her singing, he felt like he never wanted to hear her voice clouded with such things as pain and sorrow. It was an odd feeling to Sephiroth since he had never felt any such protective emotions before. As a warrior with a vendetta against all humanity, he never had time for such things like relaxation or enjoyment, his mission to eradicate humanity was far too encompassing to leave room for such things.

A low grumble awakened Sephiroth from his thoughts. He quickly scanned the area looking for any threats. The grumble came again. Sephiroth realized that it was coming from him. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until his stomach decided to complain to him about its lack of contents. He glanced over at the dozing Cetra and proceeded to finish what Aeris had started, divesting the tree of all its fruit. In a shorter time than Aeris had used, Sephiroth had cleared the tree of its other half of fruit. A few minutes later Sephiroth started to feel lethargic and suddenly getting to their destination didn't seem so important anymore. Following Aeris lead, Sephiroth laid back on the ground and was soon slumbering as well.

* * *

A loud roar shook the ground and sent both Sephiroth and Aeris shooting to their feet, their earlier feeling of tranquility vanished. Sephiroth drew Masamune and Aeris looked around for something that she could use to defend herself with. A large shadow was cast over the land, and since it wasn't a cloudy day, it was obvious that what ever had made the roar was overhead. Sure enough when Sephiroth turned his gaze heavenward, a large black mass with four enormous wings was blocking out the sun. It let out another loud roar and dived down at the pair.

"Shit!" Sephiroth cursed, "of all the monsters that could have attacked us, it just had to be a fucking dragon!"

He used Masamune to fend off the dragon's dive, its claws producing a shower of sparks as it connected with Masamune's blade. Its first attack thwarted, the dragon started beating it wing to get up high enough to make a second dive. Sephiroth didn't give it a chance as he leapt up, and made a huge gash in its side with his sword.

"Aeris, get out of the way, this is going to be a hard fight," Sephiroth shouted at her as the dragon finally got enough air to get away from Sephiroth's reach.

But his warning came just a moment too late. The dragon had already made a second sweep and had caught Aeris in its clawed grasp. It started heavily beating both sets of its massive wings and drew up high in the air rapidly. Sephiroth cursed everything to hell and ran after the dragon, determined to get the Cetra away from it without killing her. He reached his top speed just moments later and when he crested a huge foothill he gave a massive leap and was flying as fast as he cold after the dragon, slowly catching up with it as they got closer to the mountains.

Aeris meanwhile was trying hard not to let the terror overwhelm her. She had no idea why the dragon had attacked them and then carried her off. What she did know was that she was fighting a losing battle to keep her lunch while being carried in the dragon's claws as it made its lurching flight. Then she made the mistake of looking down and promptly threw up. Aeris felt wretched, it was just like fate to mock her by ruining such a good day.

Her nausea was again replaced with terror as the dragon went into a steep dive towards a giant cave in the side of a mountain. She was screaming as it seemed that the dragon would crash into the mountain side. But instead of going spalt on the rock wall, the dragon swiftly banked backwards and awkwardly flapped into the cave. Aeris felt the blood rush back to her head and she fainted as the dragon dropped her to the ground.

Sephiroth saw all of this and put on a last burst of speed as he saw the dragon's open maw descend towards the herbalist, intent on making a meal out of her. Just as the dragon's jaws were about to snap Aeris up, Sephiroth blasted into the cave with full force, grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the way as he skidded a few yards because of his abrupt landing. Scratched all over and pissed as hell Sephiroth stood up and charged at the dragon, the sunlight glinting off Masamune's sharp blade held in front of him.

Aeris regained consciousness to the sounds of Sephiroth's heated battle with the dragon. The dragon was at an obvious disadvantage in the fight because the cave restricted it movement while it did no such thing to impede Sephiroth's movement. While she had no doubt about who would win this fight, the ominous rumbling that seemed to be growing stronger by the minute did. Sephiroth was starting to make the killing blow when she saw the first pebbles fall from the cave's ceiling.

"Sephiroth get back!" was all Aeris was able to yell before the cave's ceiling collapsed on them. A stray rock that ricocheted off the wall hit Aeris in the head any the world went out.

* * *

Whee, another evil cliffy. I didn't intent to end this chapter with one, but it seemed fitting. Sorry about the long update time, but that's the way college life is. All studying and homework and little free time. I will update at least once over x-mas break, that's a promise. And if I don't keep it my brother will stuff snow down my shirt on x-mas mourning.

To thegr8sephiroth: regarding "evil Zack". It wasn't originally planned to be in the story, but I found it helped advance the plot very well. Glad that you think that I'm keeping the characters in character. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter.

To DemonSurfer: umm, Seph didn't really have an allergy, Aeris just drugged him with a heavy sedative. But that's a good idea. I may just incorporate something like that in the upcoming chapter or two.

To dragonfly63126: well here's your update. The prophecy may be confusing in its shortness, but you can re-read it in my summary. Things will be cleared up in the final chapter I promise.

To BrucesGirl: I don't think that I'm that good of a writer, but thank you. Glad that you understand my position with college and this fic. As it is I'm putting off school work to finish this chapter.

To CazzaCat: glad that you think so . Next update in December.

To Brdm18: sorry that I killed off our fav character Zack, but it was necessary for the development of the relationship between Sephiroth and Aeris. Didn't want to have a competing love interest in this story. The main focus of the story is on Aeris and Sephiroth, Zack was just a minor character. And if I find any snow down my shirt, I'll kill you because you can't b/c I updated. So nyaah :p

To Noacat: thank you, glad that that you enjoyed it.

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them, both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in.


	6. Fevered Dreams

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters.

Ch. 6- Fevered Developments

Sephiroth almost heard Aeris' warning too late. He had been too absorbed in his fight against the black mountain dragon that he didn't became aware of the ground's vibrations until a pebble hit him on the head. Just a second later Aeris' shout was cut short by the cave-in caused by the dragon's flailing limbs in the battle. The only reason why he hadn't been crushed by the falling rocks was because of his highly tuned reflexes developed from a lifetime of fighting. In the spilt second between the pebble hitting his head, Aeris' cut-off warning, and the cave-in, Sephiroth jumped quickly backwards, thrusting Masamune against the floor for added leverage. He didn't get more than six feet back, but that short distance he propelled himself backwards was just enough to barely get him out of the worst danger.

* * *

Sephiroth landed hard, but he had no time to reflect on it since, while he did escape being killed by the falling rocks, quite a few of the smaller ones fell on him and he instantly blacked out. He never saw what had had become of Aeris during the cave-in and had no way of knowing that she had been hit by a stray rock. There was no way he could have predicted what was to happen in the near future and what the consequences of this event would have for them.

The sliver haired warrior awoke to a world of pain. There wasn't a part of his body that wasn't in agony. Sephiroth knew that he had barely escaped instant death during the cave-in, what he was left with from his near fatal experience was pain like he had hardly ever felt before. The only other time when he had felt such agony was when he went back for Aeris in the Temple of the Ancients where a piece of the floor had broken and ripped a huge gash in his stomach. The only difference between then and now was that Sephiroth knew that he was in no danger of dying anytime soon due to his injuries.

A slight shift in the pile of rocks that he was half buried under informed him that he wasn't in the clear yet. The possibility of a second, lesser cave-in was very real and if he didn't want to be caught in another one, he had to extract himself from his current predicament. Sephiroth quickly took stock of his position. An arm and both legs were buried in the rubble leaving his head and his other arm free. From what he could tell, he was bleeding in several places and had bruises everywhere else. He would have to be very careful as he moved the rocks on top of his body as the rubble piles of cave-ins and rock slides were notoriously unstable. As he slowly shifted the first rock from his shoulder that was the size of a normal head of cabbage it occurred to Sephiroth that this was a task that the useless Cetra could actually help in.

"Aeris, where are you?" Sephiroth called in a tightly controlled manner. Silence answered him. Either the Cetra was unconscious or she had left him for dead. Either one was likely since she probably didn't see what had happened to him during the cave-in.

Sephiroth grumbled, it looked like he was on his own. It was probably better this way since the girl might have set off another collapse in her clumsy movements. _Quit wasting time_, he told himself. His first concern was freeing himself, he could check on the herbalist later. By now he had removed enough rocks so that he could see his previously buried shoulder. Just his luck, he had a shallow three inch long gash on it. He wondered what other damage he would discover the cave-in had inflicted on his body. Hopefully nothing too serious to impede his progress, this whole fiasco had cost him enough time as it was.

It seemed to take forever, but eventually he had both arms free which greatly speeded up the removal of the rubble from his person. Once he was able to pull his legs out without causing another collapse, he got up and examined the rubble pile that had blocked the entrance to the cave. The fates seemed to be against him today, not only was the rock pile too big for him to quickly remove, but even if he did try, the cave was so unstable that it would cause another collapse. To put it bluntly, they were trapped.

A low groan informed Sephiroth of Aeris' presence. So she hadn't left him for dead after all. He followed the source of the noise to its source and found the herbalist sprawled on the ground. He swiftly knelt down and felt for her head, he had to make sure that it wasn't cracked open by a stray rock. His fingers encountered sticky, half-dried blood on the back of her head, but judging from the groan she had made earlier, she was coming to.

Her limbs started twitching as Aeris became more aware. Green eyes dulled by pain cracked open, but it was almost impossible to see since there was almost no light in the cave now. Sephiroth even with the superb eyesight that came from being Jenova's son could barely see Aeris through the gloom. If she hadn't groaned he might not have even found her at all. It was pure dumb luck that they had both made it through this relatively unscathed. Now that he had found her, Sephiroth had to next find an alternate exit from this cave, if there even was one.

"Sep...roth, iss hurz, isss zo haa iin her…" Aeris mumbled. He could barely understand what she said, he figured she was trying to say, "Sephiroth, it hurts, it's so hot in here". He frowned, it was not even warm in the cave, if anything it was quite cold. Aeris shouldn't be complaining that it was hot. He put a hand to her forehead. He cursed violently, she had a fever. Just what he needed. Now not only would he have to carry her, but he also had to get out quickly to treat her fever and prevent her from dying.

The swordsman quickly gathered up the delirious girl in his arms and extended his senses to try to feel a fresher source of air. It didn't work, so he set off in a random direction, hoping for the Aeris' sake that he would find an exit. Sephiroth had been walking for a few minutes when Aeris stirred in his arms. He looked down, her eyes were bright with the fever but she seemed semi-lucid. She extended her arm to the left and clearly spoke, "that way" and fell back into her restless sleep.

Sephiroth mentally shrugged, why not go that way? It wasn't like he had any better ideas, maybe the planet was telling her what way was out. All he knew was that it was worth a shot and had as much of a chance of succeeding as any other plan. So he proceeded to set off in the direction the Cetra had indicated without a word.

* * *

Hours passed as he traveled deeper into the heart of the mountain. Time had no meaning for him as he strode to what might possibly be a way out. Nothing mattered to him anymore, not his mother, not the Black Matera, not summoning Meteor and wiping out humanity, nothing but to keep moving. After that last time Aeris spoke, she had remained silent. It was definitely a bad sign and Sephiroth found himself slowly starting to worry for the girl as she continued to hang listless in his arms.

The further he went on, the more the air grew musty, and the more restless he grew. He was just about to turn around and head in another direction when Aeris all of a sudden started yelling "Stop! Stop! Don't you know what you're doing!" over and over again. Sephiroth started running, he had to find an exit fast, Aeris probably didn't have much time left. But he wasn't able to get far, the events of the had taken their toll and he tripped over a rock he hadn't seen and was sent tumbling down a long slope holding Aeris to his chest like his life depended on it. When he abruptly stopped Aeris had grown quiet. He pressed the back of his hand on her forehead. Her temperature was still high, but it had dropped slightly. She might just be able to fight the fever off. Aeris' strength of will impressed Sephiroth, since that was the only thing that could be causing the fever to lessen somewhat.

_ Keep fighting Aeris_, Sephiroth thought, _you're stronger than it is and I still need you_. _Together, little Cetra, you and I will destroy the impure and make paradise._ It was only after he had spent so much time with her that he had realized just how different Aeris was from the humans. She cared for everything, even her would-be killer. Her knowledge of her craft and how resourceful she had been in using it on him had at first sent him into a murderous rage, but after he had a few days to cool, he was impressed about how dangerous she could be using the contents of those little packets. As he spent more time with the girl he had come to grudgingly respect her perseverance and strength of will, even if it irritated him most of the time. But what really made Aeris different from the abdominal humans was her lack of avarice and her concern for almost anything above herself.

It was amazing that such a creature such as the Cetra hadn't been tainted by the humans. Even more so that she couldn't truly hate them after all that they had done to her. An entity like her was impossible to find in the humans and that was what made her so dangerous, what made her his enemy. But Sephiroth no longer cared about how dangerous she was now, he had realized that she was a being worthy of existing in his utopia after Meteor fell. Right then and there he decided that he would make sure that she survived Meteor's impact and would have a place in his perfect kingdom.

Sephiroth was cut short from his thoughts when he sensed a slight shift in the atmosphere. The air was just as musty, but he smelled water off in the distance of all things, fresh water at that. The air also seemed slightly warmer from where the scent was coming from. Even if it didn't come from outside, the warmer air would be better for her and the prospect of fresh water gave her an even better chance at survival.

It only took about fifteen minutes for Sephiroth to reach the source of the scent of water and when he got there he was pleased to find an underground stream flowing. Kneeling down Sephiroth gently set Aeris by the water's edge and carefully washed her face with his hands since he had nothing else to use. After checking her temperature, he was pleased to find that it hadn't risen again, Sephiroth cupped his hands together and drank his fill from the stream. The water tasted as fresh as newly fallen rain without any hints of salts or sulfur in it. Water that fresh couldn't have come from a thermal hot spring and it didn't smell like it had come form a normal underground spring either. It smelled like a clean river open to the outside air. It was a long shot, but perhaps if he followed it upstream, he would find where the stream fed into the cave.

"Gaia, why?" Aeris mumbled in her fevered sleep.

Sephiroth quickly turned his attention to the sick healer again. He was worried, if she was talking again, it meant that her condition was changing, but whether it was a positive change or not wasn't certain. She could be sinking back into her fevered dreams or she could be regaining consciousness. Sephiroth hoped it was the latter, because if it was the former it meant that her fever was getting worse.

When Sephiroth heard no more from the girl, he picked her up again and proceeded to follow the stream uphill. The going was rough, rocks and uneven footing often made him stumble. Since it was so dark that even he was having real trouble seeing, there were several moments where he almost crashed into stalagmites and stalactites. But he was never deterred and kept on doggedly moving ahead. Once in a while he stopped to check on Aeris, on several occasions dribbling water into her mouth to keep her from getting dehydrated. During the whole time she never stirred and Sephiroth noted that her temperature was slowly decreasing. After a while her temperature stabilized to being slightly above normal and Sephiroth figured that she had fallen into a natural sleep.

* * *

Again it seemed like time had no meaning to the silent pair. Sephiroth kept on marching uphill while Aeris slept peacefully. Without intending to Sephiroth fell into an alternating rhythm of walking and then stopping and checking on Aeris while making sure that they both got water at the same time. When her fever totally disappeared, Sephiroth felt all the tension that had been building up in him vanish, leaving him feeling much lighter and more limber than he had felt when her condition had been worse. Moving much easier, the peaceful atmosphere that had been growing ever since she slipped into a normal sleep shattered when Sephiroth stepped onto some loose rubble, slipped, and fell hard on his back.

The impact had caused him to lose his hold on Aeris and she was roughly jostled out of his arms. She hit the ground a foot away and rolled for a few more feet. A soft "oomph" signaled her landing and abrupt awakening. Sephiroth cursed and quickly got to his feet again despite his banged up and bruised back.

"Ouch! What did you do that for Sephiroth!" Aeris yelled clearly but weakly, her voice no longer garbled by the fever.

She was obviously aware and coherent as she started ranting at Sephiroth for being a violent brute without any manners or grace. Her tirade only lasted a few minutes since she was still very weak from fighting off and recovering from the fever, after which she fell into silence as Sephiroth approached her.

"Good, now that you're awake, you can get your own water. I'm tired of having to carry you," Sephiroth said.

Aeris's face scrunched up indignantly.

"I'm not an invalid you know!" She yelled back.

"Sure seemed like that to me for the last fifteen hours that I had to carry you through this dank and miserable cave," Sephiroth retorted.

"Why would you do that?" Aeris asked bewildered. Why would he inconvenience himself so much when it would have been faster for him to go alone she wondered.

"Can you walk?" Sephiroth asked, changing the subject.

Aeris tried in vain to get to her feet, she collapsed after she had struggled to her hands and knees. Sephiroth sighed, everything with this girl never was simple. Either Aeris herself made things complicated or she attracted things that made it difficult for the silver-haired swordsman. And to think that he actually had the patience to put up with her. If it were anyone else, they would have felt Masamune's blade much earlier. The only reason why he hadn't poked her with his sword in the first few days he was with her was because of Jenova's nagging and the fact that he _did_ need her despite his vehement wishes otherwise. Yet still he had grown to admire her creativity in tight places and her unshakable resolve. While he would never understand the peculiar Cetra, Sephiroth knew now that she was as different from the humans as fire was from water, absolute opposites.

Sephiroth knelt down and slung Aeris's arm over his shoulder, letting her lean on him. When they reached the stream, Aeris limply slid out of his grip and gently settled on the cavern's floor. She greedily scooped up water and noisily slurped it up out of her hands to quench her fierce thirst, not caring at all about modesty. Aeris had only drunk a couple handfuls of water when Sephiroth reached down and stopped her.

"Slow down Cetra, or you will make yourself sick. That really wouldn't be a good idea especially after you just recovered from your fever," Sephiroth warned her.

Aeris smiled at him and went back to drinking from the stream with a bit less urgency. She seemed to actually be enjoying the taste of the water since she was taking her time with each mouthful, relishing its clean and refreshing flavor. Only after she had drunk her fill did she turn back to Sephiroth.

"I had a fever?" she softly queried.

"When I regained consciousness I heard you moaning off somewhere in the dark. You had a high temperature when I finally found you," Sephiroth responded just as quietly.

"How bad was I?" Aeris asked, interrupting his explanation.

"Somehow you had developed a high fever between the time the cave ceiling collapsed and the time I woke up. You came close to dying while I was looking for a way out," Sephiroth continued.

"You carried me for all this time?" Aeris asked incredulously.

"There wasn't any other way to transport you around," Sephiroth answered with a note of sarcasm.

"You sound like you were worried about me. Thank you," Aeris said ignoring his tone.

Sephiroth fell into a contemplative silence after she spoke those words. Her feelings about him had definitely changed from what it was when he first confronted her on the Ancient Isle. The thing was that Sephiroth wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Sure her having a better opinion of him would make her more cooperative, but he wasn't certain if he wanted to have to deal with her getting too close for his tastes. Right now the last thing that he needed was an emotionally unstable woman with him.

But on further reflection of Aeris's reactions in the past, Sephiroth concluded that Aeris was anything but unstable. She had recovered remarkably after her encounter with that scum who tried to rape her. Either she was the most stable person on this wretched planet or she was a very good actor with deep rooted mental problems. He highly suspected that the former was the case. The way she had gotten away from him in the first place could only be the product of a desperate but sane mind.

"Penny for your thoughts," said Aeris, interrupting Sephiroth's contemplative mood.

"That's none of your business," Sephiroth replied trying to put some distance between himself and Aeris.

Aeris wasn't phased by his coldness at all. Instead of trying to further any conversation with him, she just started humming while she was washing off as much of the grit on her body that she could under the circumstances. Several minutes passed while she meticulously cleaned as much of her face, neck, hair, and arms as she could. Sephiroth tried not to get irritated by her actions. It wasn't like she was deliberately ignoring him while she was cleaning herself, but her lack of attention to the situation at hand was rather irksome to Sephiroth.

"If you're quite done grooming yourself it would be wise to start thinking about how we will get out of this dank hole," Sephiroth wryly remarked.

Aeris blushed, but Sephiroth had a hard time seeing it in the almost pitch blackness of the huge cavern. She spent a few minutes fidigiting after his comment obviously offset about her short-sidedness. Despite their predicament, Sephiroth smirked. Aeris might know how to survive out in the wild and how to interact in human society, but she was also foolishly naive at times. _But even I was like that as a young child_, Sephiroth mused, _the same could be said about Aeris, that she has a child's naiveté. She just hasn't grown out of her childhood yet._

"Who's the one spacing out now?" Aeris joked.

Sephiroth's eyebrow twitched, the only sign that she had gotten to him. Instead of replying to her, he simply went over and got Aeris to her feet. He started walking but was brought up short by Aeris collapsing after only taking her first step without his support. Sephiroth sighed, she was too weak to walk. He would have to carry her again.

Aeris let out a startled squeak when Sephiroth picked her up and settled her in his arms without warning. As she settled against his chest she couldn't help but admire how well toned it was. Her face turned pink at the thought. She wondered, _why is he being so kind to me?_, but she never voiced her thoughts.

"Which way Aeris?" Sephiroth asked. When she didn't reply he asked in a louder voice, "Earlier the planet told you which way to go when you were feverish, can you not ask it the way out again?"

Caught off guard, Aeris's blush only deepened. He noted that she had been doing that a lot in the past half hour. Whatever the reason for such reactions on her behalf, it wasn't his concern. Females in general, no matter what species, were baffling to Sephiroth; Aeris and his mother being prime examples but for different reasons. Aeris and Jenova were about as different from each other as cats were from dogs. One was kind and easy to get into a good mood, the other was controlling, critical and involved herself in his every thought. Speaking of which, Sephiroth had noticed a distinct lack of his Mother's voice in his head for the last few days. Perhaps the distance between them was getting too far for their mental link, although that had never been a problem with them in the past.

"Um…, Sephiroth. How did you know which way the planet indicated to go in?" Aeris asked confused.

Sephiroth looked sharply at her. He hadn't realized it, but after he had picked her up again, he had started traveling uphill alongside the stream again. Why had he started traveling upstream again? If he didn't know any better he could have sworn that he had felt the same presence guiding him now as he had felt had been guiding them towards the central mountain range in the first place.

"What do you mean Aeris?" Sephiroth demanded.

"From the start of that day when you prevented me from taking a nose dive over the cliff in the foothills I've felt a subtle presence guiding my steps. It only just occurred to me why I followed it so unquestionably, because it felt familiar and subconsciously I trusted it," Aeris explained.

_ Please don't tell me that she thinks that her "planet" has been this presence she felt her guiding her_ Sephiroth exasperatedly thought.

"Funny, I should have recognized the planet's presence from the start. I don't know how I didn't," Aeris continued, Sephiroth inwardly groaned, "perhaps it was deliberately hiding its aura from me, but I wouldn't know why it would do so."

"So what you're saying Cetra is that this blasted planet of yours has been 'escorting' us for the past few days?" Sephiroth interrupted her.

"Don't speak so badly of the planet!" Aeris retorted, flaring up.

"Just answer the question Cetra! What has this planet of yours ever done for me? Answer, nothing! It seems like your precious planet only cares about you and the blasted humans." Sephiroth replied just as heatedly.

"The planet cares for everything that lives on it, not just me and the humans. Even as we speak it is lamenting for you about this self-destructive path you are going down! And yes it is the one who has been guiding us in this direction. For what purpose I don't know, nor do I know to where it is guiding us. By the way you describe it you can feel it too! So stop giving me this crap about you not caring," Aeris started ranting.

"Why should I give a damn about your precious planet? It's the one that spawned the filthy humans that have made both of our lives miserable! How can you forgive them so easily?" Sephiroth shot back.

"I can because I am mature enough to realize that holding grudges is childish and only hinders one's development. Unlike you who holds a grudge against the whole human race," Aeris a replied in a tightly controlled manner.

"You're the one who's the child! You can't even take care of yourself without someone to hold your hand. If it weren't for me-" Sephiroth shouted, but Aeris cut him off.

"You might think that I act like a child but take a good look at yourself. At least I'm able to express my emotions openly. You just hide and suppress them, keeping them bottled up until you explode. And when that happens, someone usually ends up dead! Now tell me how healthy is that!" Aeris practically screamed.

Sephiroth was beyond angry. If it weren't for the fact that he was carrying her he would have slapped her. The impedance of that girl to call him childish and petty! He would have dropped and left her there if she wasn't so weak and that he still needed her to help summon Meteor with him. The time they had spent together had taught her nothing about how she should behave around him. She hadn't changed in the least bit. As it was he felt like he really should teach her a lesson in manners and respect for her superiors.

Then it hit him like a bolt of lightning. If she really could hear the planet, she must have some mental powers as well. That means that while he couldn't physically harm her, he could deliver her a through mental beating in much of the same way Jenova had delivered onto him on occasion. Sephiroth was just preparing to lash out at her with his mind when he felt overwhelmed by such a powerful force that just the act of contacting him with its full attention sent him into peals of agony.

For what seemed like hours, but was only a few seconds the powerful entity that had invaded his mind ruthlessly sifted through his mind, exposing everything to its scrutiny. After the short mental inspection of his mind that seemed to last for a horrendously long amount of time, the pressure on his mind abated and he belatedly realized that it had shifted part of its focus on another source. He tried sensing what had distracted the entity's attention but was strongly rebuffed when he sent out a small probe to identify what it was.

"Yes, yes. Alright! I'll calm down. You didn't have to shout at me!" Sephiroth heard Aeris speak.

"Do I have to?...Alright already! Just stop doing that. You're right, I over reacted and things got out of hand. But he was at fault too you know," Aeris spoke a bit louder to what seemed to Sephiroth was thin air.

"Fine, fine! You don't have to scold me like I'm a child, he was acting more immature than I was anyway. But I'll be the better person and apologize. There happy?" Aeris exclaimed sounding exasperated.

During her conversation with what Sephiroth had assumed was the planet by the way she was talking, Sephiroth had felt the presence that had invaded his mind slowly withdraw all the time exuding a calming and soothing aura. Before it entirely left his mind it sent him a clear warning not to try such a thing again or there would be dire consequences for him. He was not under any circumstances to try to harm her again in any way or he would feel the wrath of the mysterious entity.

A soft thump made him aware of the physical world around him again. While the unknown presence had attacked his mind he had kept a grip of steel on Aeris in his arms but as it left his mind his whole body turned limp as it left its soothing balm on his mind. As his body had slowly relaxed, Sephiroth's arms had started lowering and his legs had given out from under him, causing Aeris to slowly slip out of his grip and him to sink to his knees. The soft thump signaled Aeris finally falling out of his arms and hitting the ground, but she never noticed that she had ever fallen out of his arms since she was paying too much attention to her conservation with the planet.

His attention shifted back to Aeris when she sighed tiredly. He watched her for a few minutes while she collected herself and waited for her response. Aeris sighed again and shifted so that she was directly facing Sephiroth. Her weary green eyes slowly rose up to his own. Silence filled the cavern as she spent a moment gazing into his slightly glowing green-blue eyes as if she was trying to gaze into his soul. Finally she spoke, her words slowly rolling off her tongue, all signs of her earlier aggression gone.

"Sephiroth I formally ask your forgiveness for our earlier dispute. Both of us were over stressed by the situation and it was obvious that neither of us were clearly thinking when we both said those cruel and hurtful words. I acknowledge my own lack of self-control as a contributing factor in the cause of the confrontation, and I truly hope that nothing I said caused you any grief. I only ask that you like wise accept your part in the argument and that we can both put this event behind us," Aeris sincerely said.

Sephiroth was speechless, he had never thought that Aeris would ever swallow her pride and admit that she was wrong. He himself had never admitted any fault and he belatedly realize that if he ever did, now would be the best time to do so to put their relationship back on even ground. He too sighed, this would be the first, and most likely last, time he would ever do such a thing.

"I…I'm sorry for lashing out at you without thinking," Sephiroth forced out, "Anger was clouding my judgment, this argument should have happened and it wouldn't if I had kept a better reign on my emotions. I admit my fault."

It hurt more than he had thought to admit that he was wrong. But for once he was forced to concede that the best thing to do under the circumstances was to apologize. He couldn't afford to alienate Aeris, not if he wanted to be able to complete his plan. Plus if he got on her bad side, she would be insufferable for the rest of the duration of the time which he would have to stay with her. There was even a small part of him that was beginning to appreciate how good it felt to keep Aeris happy. In a small way, it made him content.

Now it was Aeris' turn to be speechless. She hadn't expected him to actually give her an apology, much less one that he meant. How she knew that she didn't know, she just did. He had changed so much since the Ancient Isle yet she hadn't even noticed any difference in his behavior until right now. It was startling how much he had progressed, had become more sociable (with her at least), since the start of their travels. Even though his progress thrilled her, there was a faint sense of foreboding that she couldn't explain.

Sephiroth also had noticed a difference in his demeanor. He was actually making allowances for her weaknesses and was trying to avoid aggravating her. Five years ago he never would have done such things for anyone, he still wouldn't ever treat any of the humans with such kindness as he showed Aeris. Such disgraceful and treacherous beings didn't deserve mercy and he had no intention of showing them any, no matter what Aeris thought. He had earlier vowed to spare Aeris from the human's obliteration and now he decided to treat her as she deserved to be, with respect and patience. He should have treated her so much earlier he realized. He hadn't before, but he would now.

The fact that Aeris's opinion of him had improved also helped Sephiroth make his decision. He was a firm believer of treating others as they treated him. When Aeris wasn't fond of him, he wasn't fond of her at all, he absolutely loathed her in fact. Now she treated him with more respect and civility he would do likewise for her. But there was one thing that would never change about him, the way he deals with the humans. He would die before he showed any human mercy or kindness, they never showed him any.

A drop of water hit Sephiroth on his nose, reminding him that they really didn't have time to be dawdling around examining their psyches in this damp hole in the mountain. He was about to pick Aeris when he suddenly thought that she might want a warning before they started off again.

"We're moving on, do anything you need to do now before we go," Sephiroth told Aeris.

He walked a few meters away from Aeris to give her some privacy. She had been unconscious for the better part of twenty-four hours and probably needed to relieve herself. He heard her shuffling around a bit then she called out to him telling him that she was ready. Sephiroth walked back over to her and extended a hand to help her up. With his help she shakily got to her feet. She was able to walk on her own now, but she was so slow Sephiroth picked her up again to speed things up.

Aeris shot him an indignant glare when she suddenly was deposited in his arms again. Sephiroth suppressed a chuckle at her mild irritation. They still had a long way to go to get out.

* * *

Sephiroth tried in vain to hide his annoyance. It had taken another two hours, but they had finally reached the source where the stream fed into the cave system. They had found a way out of the cave, but it was too small for even the petite Aeris to fit through plus it was underwater to boot. Aeris was just staring dumbly at the underwater tunnel. She couldn't believe that _this_ was where the planet was leading her too. It was less than a foot wide and about twenty feet long with sunlight filtering through the water at the end. There was no way that they could get out of the cave through that. Sure, Sephiroth could probably hack through it if he really tried, but that was at least twenty feet of solid granite and the possibility of another cave in was always there. While she could ask favors of the planet, it couldn't precisely control the reactions of any actions it made to alter its geography to better accommodate her. She didn't even dare to ask it help in this situation.

Sephiroth for once in his life felt powerless to do anything about a problem he faced. He had already deduced the problems that Aeris had identified could occur if he tried to force the opening wider. Furthermore his encounter with the massive consciousness that had invaded his mind had sapped his powers that he got from being the son of Jenova to less than half of their usual strength. He wasn't even sure if he could even do anything to open the underwater passage wider. He idly noted that Aeris had been keenly studying the opening for the last minute, frowning. He wondered what she was observing about the waterway. Then suddenly he noticed something odd about the water that he hadn't before. There were faint traces of a green tint in it that he hadn't seen before because it was too dark to see before.

"Th..this can't be…" Aeris stammered, "and yet somehow it is. But how?"

"How what, Aeris? Please enlighten me on what you know that I don't," Sephiroth calmly asked remembering how the previous argument had started.

"This water carries traces of the lifestream in it. I didn't think that it was possible for it to exist in any medium except itself. When separated from the major flow of the lifestream, any portion of it dries up and in a sense dies since it is alive. This stream must hook up to the main flow of the lifestream further downstream," Aeris distractedly explained.

"That's fascinating, but how will that help us?" Sephiroth inquired.

"I have no idea, the planet must have had some purpose in leading us here…," Aeris trailed off.

Suddenly both of them sensed a massive shift in the natural flow of energies around them. An odd sound reached their ears. It was like a low churning that sounded faintly like music. At the same time Sephiroth found where the sound was coming from and evidently where the energy flow was shifting Aeris gasped.

Right before their eyes the faint traces of the lifestream flowing in through the hole on the outside were moving into the mountain's bedrock while it was slowly taking on the consistency of wet clay. Then much to their amazement the underwater tunnel first became perfectly smooth, and then it even more slowly the edges of the tunnel pulled back at an even rate all throughout the tunnel's area. When it stopped, the tunnel was as smooth as a river rock and was five feet wide in diameter. With what seemed like an exhausted shudder the energy flow returned to normal and reality set back in. Overall the whole process took between twenty to thirty minutes, the whole time Sephiroth and Aeris watched silently and awestruck.

"Oh planet, thank you!" Aeris softly but full-heartedly exclaimed.

"I thought that you said that the planet couldn't control its geological shifts very well," Sephiroth commented, still recovering from the seemingly impossible feat that he had just saw.

"It must have been the direct contact the diluted flow of the lifestream in the stream over the ages soaking into the channel that allowed it to happen," Aeris reasoned.

Now that he thought about it, the traces of pure, natural lifestream in the stream explained many of the coincidences that had happened after he found the stream in the first place. Aeris had been recovering remarkably fast from that terrible fever she had developed after the cave in. Surviving the fever Sephiroth attributed to her incredible strength of will and her own remarkable healing powers which she must have been subconsciously using the whole time to fight it off. But how quickly she recovered consciousness and awareness seemed a bit too unbelievable. The water of the stream must have also had healing properties due to the traces of the lifestream in it. It must have also sustained him as he trekked along, he certainly was feeling the effects of traveling for so long without food or water with many injuries before he first reached it. He was sure that if he hadn't been drinking from the stream periodically he probably would have collapsed from exhaustion hours ago.

After the planet had apparently altered the tunnel in the rock that the stream flowed through, the stream was only about two feet deep as it ran through it downhill into the depths of the cave. The tunnel was now ovalish in shape, five feet across and three feet high when going through the center. While Sephiroth was studying the tunnel and pondering the properties of the lifestream in the brook, Aeris had got onto her hands and knees and had started crawling into the tunnel. Sephiroth noticed this and reached out to haul her back, but she was too far up the tunnel for him to get her.

If there was one thing that Aeris was not, it was un-initiative. She always seemed to be doing her own thing, acting on her own observations. She certainly wasn't afraid to do her own thing. Five years of living on her own in the wilderness had made her very independent and had self-sufficient. But her independence in itself had proved to be a major problem for Sephiroth in the recent past. Her ingenuity and resourcefulness was what had allowed her to get away from him back when they first came to Werely continent.

Even though she had acted without his approval, Sephiroth found himself following her lead into the tunnel. He had to make sure that she kept her head above water while she was moving through the channel, she was still weak and recovering from the fever. The passageway itself was smooth, almost too smooth to be able to crawl up it. Several times Aeris lost her grip on the slick stone and crashed into him. The only reason that they both didn't slide back down into the cave was because Sephiroth had braced his arms and legs against the tunnel walls just a second before her backside impacted on his chest. Each time that happened, Sephiroth slid back a few feet setting their progress back a few minutes. There were also times when Sephiroth found his grip on the rock slipping too but he never fell back due mostly to the grip his combat boots had on the rock. In all it took them the greater part of an hour to transverse the twenty three foot long partially submerged tunnel, fighting the stream's current the whole time.

Finally after a long process of slowly climbing up the slick tunnel with all the slips and setbacks involved, an exhausted Aeris emerged into the golden sunlight of late afternoon and practically collapsed in the middle of the stream. She was barely able to force herself out of the stream, onto the streambank and then collapsed. Sephiroth came out of the tunnel not a minute after. He was soaking wet and his limbs were trembling from the pressure he had put on them when working his way up the tunnel. Even though the air was warm, Sephiroth shivered.

Now that they had finally gotten out of the cave, the most important thing was to get warm and dry off. In her weakened state Aeris could easily catch a chill or have a relapse of her fever. But first he had to get them out of the stream. Aeris had hauled her halfway out of the running water and Sephiroth was still fully in it. He forced his protesting limbs to get up, gather Aeris up in his arms once again and stagger a few feet away from the stream before collapsing at the base of a tall, lush tree with huge green leaves.

Sephiroth spent the next few minutes panting and catching his breath. He had obviously over exerted himself during the whole journey through and out of the cave. He had hardly ever worn himself out this much. The most recent situation he could think of had been when he had decided to rescue Aeris from the collapsing Temple of the Ancients and had got his stomach ripped open where she had saved him from certain death at her own expense. Though worn out, he still could move about a bit and he needed to get up and make a fire to dry them off.

Groaning, Sephiroth rolled Aeris off his chest and gently onto the ground and slowly got to his feet. He staggered around collecting fire wood and then arranged it into a pile to light it. He wasn't looking forward to having to start the fire since it took a lot of work and he was already at his limit. Sephiroth had just picked up two dry but sturdy sticks to start rubbing together when Aeris laid her hand on his arm. He looked in askance at her, but she only smiled.

Aeris held her hand over the pile of wood and a look of intense concentration spread over her face. The air around her fingertips started shimmering and he could almost feel the heat that was gathering in them. Sephiroth had no idea that Aeris could do anything like it. Sweat was beading on her brow when she touched her finger tips to the wood and immediately small flames formed at the points of contact on the wood. Sephiroth yanked her hand away from the rapidly growing fire after she had started it to prevent her from getting burns. When he looked back over at her, she was out cold. Apparently she had used too energy in that move to stay conscious.

Sephiroth place his hand on her head, her temperature was normal. Just to be safe, he moved Aeris closer to the fire and exhaustion soon over took him as well.

* * *

Here's an extra long chapter for all you readers. Hope it makes up for the long wait. Seems like I'm not as fast at updating as I originally held myself too. But as a result my chapters tend to be long. This chapter didn't have all that much plot development, more character interaction instead. But I felt that it was needed. To those of you who noticed, this chapter was in mostly Sephiroth's POV, writing it like that was more challenging than I thought. No idea when the next update will be. Might get out another chapter before college restarts again in mid January. And now to my reviewers:

To Noacat: cliffies are just a fun part of reading and writing fan fics. It helps keep readers coming back I believe, but they shouldn't be used too often. Looks like it is working.

To Brdm18: you're a dork and a smartass. So shut up and enjoy the fan fic runt-runt.

To dragonfly63126: glad that you liked it. Keep reading and I look forward to more of your reviews.

To The Hot Mage Aeris: such a high compliment from the inventor of the totally random and awesome Aeris/Sephiroth fic. Looking forward to that sequel and leave me a review or two.

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in.


	7. The Valley of Eden

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7. The storyline and original characters of this fic I do however.

Ch.7- The Valley of Eden

Aeris woke up in the warm early morning sunshine filtering through the green leafy canopy of the tree she had slept under. The sound of birdsong overhead was the first thing she heard, and from the sheer amount of it Aeris could tell that the forest canopy was filled with birds. Not only birds, but thousands of different kinds of insects, many different types of snakes and lizards, and dozens of different varieties of mammals were in the forest canopy as well. When Aeris got to her feet the din around her didn't change in the least bit and Aeris concluded that this forest hadn't been visited by humans for a very long time. In fact she had the impression that this place had _never_ been seen or visited by humans at all. Aeris's stomach growled rather loudly reminding her of the fact that she hadn't eaten for quite some time.

Aeris got up and was about to wake up her companion but stopped when she saw the content look on his sleeping visage. Suddenly she felt slightly guilty, Sephiroth had practically run himself to the bone getting her out of there while she was sick. The least she could do for him was allow him to sleep some more and gather a big breakfast for the both of them. Her stomach agreed with another growl. Aside from being so hungry, Aeris felt the best she had in years. _It must have been the healing properties of that stream that is making me feel so rested and well_ Aeris mused.

Careful not to make any noise that would wake the slumbering warrior near her, Aeris skirted the remains of last night's fire and set off deeper into the forest. While her purpose of venturing deeper into the forest was the pretense of finding food, it was just an excuse so that she could go exploring. There were some things that would never change about Aeris including her simple childish curiosity and love of nature.

* * *

Soft giggling could be heard from somewhere in the middle of the airy and lush forest. The sound lightly traveled through the trees, danced around the canopy and eventually dissipated into the breeze that blew through the tree tops. Aeris had never been happier in her life. Surrounded by such unspoiled beauty of nature, it was hard not to see why she was so. Not even in the place where she had grown up in, Rose Valley, did Aeris feel such inner peace. This place called to her and helped calm her troubled soul. It was like she belonged here. She never knew that such a place like this could exist. 

This seemingly unending forest of huge, tall majestic trees with flowering vines crawling up the trunks of many and the pretty shrub trees, with their heart shaped leaves and small sweet yet tart berries that was the main food source for many of the birds and insects about, was just the beginning of what Aeris was beginning to think of as her personal utopia. Small brightly colored insects zipped around everywhere and energetic, fast little creatures with short fluffy tails scampered around on the forest floor and up the trees. The birdsong that Aeris had had awakened to was just as prevalent now as it was then and flashes of their scarlet, gold or sapphire plumage were occasionally seen out of the corner of her eyes. The rustle of small animals could be often heard as they made their way through the leaf litter on the forest floor as they searched for food or water pooled in a dead leaf. Life was everywhere around Aeris and she reveled in its presence.

The air smelled faintly of the many different types of flowers that were blooming everywhere all throughout the forest. The sound of a burbling brook could be heard off in the distance. The light that was able to get through the dense leaf canopy over head tinted the whole forest floor slightly green. Solitary beams of sunshine pierced through the tree tops turned into golden pillars of light with dust motes dancing slowly in them. Flowering and fruiting bushes, vines, and small trees that loved the shade of the forest floor abounded profusely. Noting seemed to be disturbed by Aeris's presence. It was like she was just another part of the natural balance of this lush habitat.

Never once did Aeris trip or stumble as she walked through the surprisingly open and airy forest. Any rocks or roots that easily might have snagged her foot she almost magically avoided without knowing it. So enthralled was she by the teeming forest around her that Aeris didn't ever become aware of where she went and how much time had passed during her explorations. But the sight that now lay before brought her wandering feet to a stop.

"Oh my…." Aeris softly exclaimed.

* * *

Vivid green-blue eyes lazily opened in the midday sun. The sound of bird calls and the merry bubbling of the nearby stream filled Sephiroth's mind. The faint scent of flowers in full bloom and sun heated vegetation tickled his nose. The dappled sunlight shinning down on the leaf litter in front of him that Aeris had been sleeping on came into focus. A slight breeze played with his hair playfully tugging a few strands loose that tickled his ears and nose. All in all it was a lovely day Sephiroth concluded. Even more so since Aeris wasn't troubling him at the moment and ruining the fragile tranquility that surrounded him. _Wait! Where is Aeris!_ Sephiroth thought coming into full awareness. 

Sephiroth felt some resentment stirring towards the absent girl even though it was slightly illogical. _I went to all that trouble of keeping her alive and getting her out of the cave and the first thing she does when she wakes up outside is to leave me behind? Some gratitude! _Sephiroth thought slightly peeved, unaware that he was thinking like Aeris. He jerkily got to his feet, his stiff muscles hurting because he hadn't taken the time to stretch them out properly. He idly noted that all the cuts he had received during the cave in were fully healed without any traces of scars to mark their existence. Aside from his hunger he felt fully rested and ready to set off on a moment's notice.

_ She probably went off to get some food and got side tracked_ Sephiroth reasoned. He tried to reach out with his senses to detect any trace of the herbalist, but his efforts were in vain. There was no hide nor hair of Aeris to be found. It was like she had wandered off into the forest and completely disappeared. _Typical Aeris, _Sephiroth thought, _we get out of one mess and she goes off and wanders into another._ She had not even left a trail that he could follow. Since all other options of finding her had failed, Sephiroth decided to see if he couldn't try and _guess_ where she had gone off to.

Looking at the tree they had slept under gave Sephiroth an idea. Why not see if he could spy out her location from the tree top? It had a very slim chance of succeeding, but he had no other ideas. The lowest branch of any of the trees around was at least fifty feet off the ground, a big jump for even him. With all the effort that it would take to even get up to the lowest branch of any of the trees surrounding him, Sephiroth figured that it would be easier to just fly up the top of the trees. Backing up about fifty yards Sephiroth broke into his fastest sprint and when he reached his top speed he launched himself as high as he could into the air… and landed hard on his butt thirty feet away.

"What the Hell!" Sephiroth exclaimed without intending to.

_ Why the hell didn't it work! _Sephiroth thought beginning to panic, _how come all of a sudden I find myself without the power of flight that I've practically had for my entire life?_ Never before had something like this ever happened to the dumbfounded swordsman. To suddenly find that one of his powers had deserted him overwhelmed poor Sephiroth. There was no logical explanation that Sephiroth could think of for how or why this had happened. Utterly disheartened by his attempt to find a way up to the top of the canopy Sephiroth noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

There a few trees, he observed, that had rather sturdy looking vines growing up the lengths of the trunks. Vines that looked like that could support a full grown man's weight. The logical conclusion of that observation Sephiroth immediately deduced. If he couldn't fly or jump high enough to get to the lowest branch of a tree, why not climb the vines to get up?

Sephiroth looked around for a few minutes before his gaze fell onto a gigantic tree that was easily three times the size of one of the trees around it. The tree was easily over a hundred feet in diameter and was at least a thousand feet tall. Circling the tree almost three fourths of the way up the trunk was a huge woody vine whose creepers were at least eight inches thick. This tree, Sephiroth decided, is exactly what I've been looking for.

* * *

Two hours later, sweaty and with trembling limbs, Sephiroth broke through the top of the canopy of the gargantuan tree he had decided to scale. The moment his head broke through, he was almost overwhelmed by all the vibrant green that was all around him. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight pouring down all around him, Sephiroth shimmied up the last twenty feet to get to the very top of the tree. The view astounded him. What they had emerged from the cave wasn't a simple small forest, this was a huge fifteen mile wide and fifty mile long valley hidden in the center of the central mountain range of Emal continent. This place was so secluded that Sephiroth found the idea of any humans ever seeing this valley laughable. 

As he surveyed the valley around him he became quickly dismayed. The valley might be huge, but it was surrounded by sheer, unclimbable cliffs that were over two thousand feet high. Above the cliffs, incredibly steep, impassable mountains with glaciers on top of them made up the horizon from his view point. There was absolutely no way out of this valley they had come into emerging from the cave. Beautiful as it was he wasn't too sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his life in this valley, but there appeared to be no way out. No wonder this valley had never been touched by man before, it was too isolated and unreachable for anyone to get here by more conventional methods.

This place could readily be described as a genuine Garden of Eden. _No scratch that, _Sephiroth wryly thought, _more like the Valley of Eden_. Sephiroth took another, more detailed survey of the valley. What he saw was a carpet of forest that covered most of the entire valley except for a few small meadows near the edges. At the opposite end of the valley, about seven miles away from his current location, there was a long thin waterfall that fed into a small lake. From the other end of the lake a small river started that split up into many lesser streams. The streams eventually all went underground like the one they had come out of the cave through.

The waters of the distant lake beckoned Sephiroth. It had been so long since he had last washed and he was beyond filthy and smelled pretty ripe. It suddenly dawned on him that Aeris might have had the same idea, he was pretty sure that she valued cleanliness almost as much as he did. Over the course of their journey he had noticed how much she was attracted to places of magnificent natural beauty, and he had no doubt that her feet had unconsciously taken her to the lake and the waterfall during her explorations.

With his destination firmly in mind, Sephiroth quickly scaled down the huge tree and set off into the depths of the forest in search of his wayward charge.

* * *

After staring mesmerized for almost an entire hour at the spectacular thousand feet long waterfall, Aeris snapped out of her daze when a sharp breeze blew some of the mist from the waterfall directly into her face from across the lake. The breeze also blew her own body odor directly into her face, reminding her that she was long overdue for a through cleaning. Aeris walked closer to the lake's edge and dipped her hand into its clear waters. Good, it was pleasantly cool but not frigid. She quickly divested herself of her well worn traveler's boots and socks, one of which had a hole in the heel she absently noted, and stripped down to her purple undershirt and red underwear. 

Aeris had always had an odd sense of modesty, she didn't even bat an eye when she had bathed naked during the rare times that she had used a public women's bath house, but when she was out in the middle of nowhere, even when she was all by herself, she never was nude when she washed. One of the reasons for this odd behavior was practicality, she always had to be prepared for anything to happen out in the wild when most times she was in greater danger when she was in a human habitation. Even here, where she felt like nothing would attack her, Aeris didn't even give her odd behavior a second thought as she slipped into the water in her underclothes.

As soon as the lake's waters completely covered her whole body, Aeris felt like she was in heaven. She swore that at least three pounds of dirt came off her body the second she fully entered the lake. Eager to get rid of the rest of the filth off her body, Aeris dunked her head fully underwater and vigorously scrubbed her scalp until her lungs forced her to the surface for air. After taking a deep breath of air Aeris dove back under water and quickly started swimming to the opposite shore about three hundred feet away. Her wet, shinny hair flashed in the sunlight as her arms moved in even, strong strokes as they slipped out and back into the water time and time again. Her legs kicked up and down quickly, thrusting her body forward at each kick until they sunk into the soft sand ten feet away from the opposite shore as the water got shallower.

Feeling totally refreshed after her trek through the woods, Aeris set off back to the opposite shore where her discarded clothing was so she could do her best to clean them. A few minutes later Aeris climbed out of the lake to retrieve her clothing. She walked a bit down the lakeshore until she reached a point where a large flat rock jutted out of the water's surface a few inches above the water's surface. It was a few feet from the shore and completely surrounded by shallow water making it a very small island.

Wading out to it, her clothing clutched loosely in her hands, Aeris settled gracefully down on the slightly warm rock and got to work scrubbing the travel stains out of her light blue traveling dress and dark wool cloak that had been much too heavy to wear in the pleasant warmth of the forest. Aeris sighed looking at the long rip that Zack had made in the front of her dress that she had crudely stitched up with some twine that Sephiroth had given to her. She wanted to get a new one, but with Sephiroth around the chances of that happening were slim so she would have to make due with what she had. She was still amazed that the cloak had survived the journey through the cave and had not been lost during her flight in the dragon's claws.

The sun was about an hour past its zenith in the sky when Aeris spread her clothing out of the rock to dry. Her swim had tired her out and scrubbing her clothing had made her arms so worn out. The sunlight was deliciously warm and relaxing as Aeris sunk to her knees and lay down on her stomach, her arms cradling her head. _What a wonderful place this is _Aeris lazily thought as one of her fingers trailed around in the water.

* * *

It was mid afternoon when Sephiroth first caught glimpse of the light reflecting off the lake. When he got his first full view of the lake and waterfall up close he quickly inhaled. The sight in front of him was simply stunning. After seeing just how magnificent this place really was Sephiroth had no doubts why Aeris had come here, even he would have gone out if his way in his quest to see this view. 

Speaking of Aeris, where was she? He had traveled across the whole valley to get to this place in hopes of finding the brunette and was starting to lose his patience. The familiar feeling of irritation at Aeris's actions was building. Why could she never stay in one place for longer than twenty minutes? Now more ever he wished to quell her wanderlust. A sudden splash drew Sephiroth's attention back to the lake.

A very wet and dripping herbalist was pushing herself up from her hands and knees after her nap had been rudely interrupted by rolling off the rock and into the lake. Against his will Sephiroth's lips curled into a very faint smile, but it was gone before anyone could see it. Aeris just sat there for about a minute staring at her reflection with a bemused look on her face, blinking owlishly. As she stared at her rippling reflection, her eyes wandered across the lake's surface until she noticed a very familiar figure's distorted reflection on the disturbed lake's surface.

"Oh hi Sephiroth. Isn't this a wonderful place?" Aeris cheerily asked.

Unprepared for such a response, Sephiroth stared at her with his mouth slightly opened.

Unperturbed by his behavior, Aeris got up and went to check on her now dry clothing.

"Oh drat! Now I have to get dried again before I can put on my clean clothes," she complained halfheartedly.

Finally collecting himself, Sephiroth opened his mouth to demand why she had wandered off without his permission. But Aeris cut him off before the first word ever left his lips.

"What a lovely day for a swim, don't you think?" Aeris playfully commented and with that had splashed back into the deeper waters of the lake diving underwater.

Sephiroth shrugged, why did it matter anyway, Aeris wouldn't be changing her habits or demeanor anytime soon. Anyway, she did make a good point. It was an excellent day for a swim and he longed to get out of his filthy garments and wash off. In three seconds flat Sephiroth had stripped off all his clothing except for his black pants and had dived into the clear lake after Aeris. The cool water enfolding him felt like sliding into fine silk. Damn, that felt good. His walk through the forest, while not very exerting had left a faint sheen of sweat on his already grimy skin. To feel almost two weeks worth of filth and dirt wash off him in seconds felt heavenly.

Surfacing from his initial plunge into the lake, Sephiroth took a good look around him and decided that he could use some exercise to loosen up his still slightly stiff muscles. Soon his strong arms were making powerful strokes through the water and he was quickly swimming at full speed towards the far shore, copying Aeris's earlier route. Very quickly he got lost in the rhythm of his free stroke and was effortlessly making countless laps back and forth across the small lake.

Just when he was starting to feel some strain, Sephiroth suddenly felt a strong tug on his left foot and was pulled underwater. He instinctively lashed out and his foot hit Aeris hard in the stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs. _Shit!_ Sephiroth thought while he quickly swam after the rapidly sinking, dazed healer. His right arm curled around her middle and he quickly began swimming towards the surface. Both of their heads broke through the surface and Sephiroth hauled the sputtering Cetra towards the lake shore. Dumping the coughing brunette on the sandy shore, Sephiroth turned his full anger towards the confused Aeris.

"What the hell were you thinking you stupid idiot!" Sephiroth yelled at her, "never try to sneak up on me or catch me off guard, I'd likely kill you out of reflex! All my life I've been battling and my instincts are super sensitive, or did that fact not register in your mind when you decided to pull that stupid stunt!"

Aeris just blankly stared at him and blinked several times after he stopped. Sephiroth forced himself to calm down and sighed. She probably didn't mean any harm when she decided to pull him under the water, but she should have known that trying to surprise him like that resulted in injury or sometimes even death.

After a few minutes when she didn't respond, Sephiroth gruffly said, "it's lucky that I didn't do more than simply kick you in the gut. I've been around you long enough to know that there was no malicious intent behind that action, you probably thought it was a good joke to pull on me. But NEVER do something like that again or the results could be much worse for you. Got it?"

"I'm sorry Sephiroth, I guess that I should have been more careful around you," Aeris finally responded, eyes cast down at the ground.

"Well see that it doesn't happen again," Sephiroth answered more calmly.

Aeris just stared out at the lake, avoiding his gaze. _Honestly how stupid could I be? _Aeris chided herself. When she had first impulsively decided to try to pull a fast one on Sephiroth she didn't think of what his reaction to it would be. The whole reason why she did it in the first place was to get him to lighten up. As he was standing there after she woke up from her unintended nap, he had looked so serious and just a bit lonely. She figured that that was no way to live life and since she would be with him for heaven knows how long she at least wanted to teach that there were more things to life than fighting and scowling all the time.

"It's getting late, we should look for a place to camp," Sephiroth mentioned, changing the subject.

"Why not stay here? We don't really need a fire since it's so warm here at night and I'd really love to sleep out here with the stars reflecting on the lake near the waterfall," Aeris suggested hopefully.

"Fine," was Sephiroth's one worded reply.

Aeris smiled, delighted.

* * *

It was a beautiful day in the forest that Aeris now called home. A playful wind blew her long chestnut tresses about softly carrying the scents of the forest on it. Aeris inhaled deeply relishing the sounds and smells of nature around her. Even after all this time the beauty and diversity of this place never ceased to amaze and refresh her. How nice peace felt after a whole life of struggling to survive among the humans who misunderstood and hated her kind. Everyday she thanked the planet for leading her to its most hidden treasure. 

Growing bolder the wind started tugging at her tresses more strongly, as if it wanted to lead her somewhere. Deciding to follow its gentle guidance Aeris's feet started moving in a very familiar direction. Looking up Aeris noticed that it was cloudy overhead, it looked like rain. Moving onward Aeris picked up her pace a bit hoping that she hadn't missed it. Faster and faster her feet moved until she practically flew along the forest floor. A light drizzle had started a few minutes ago, but it didn't dampen her mood at all. On the contrary, the excitement that was fluttering in her chest was growing by the second.

There! She had made it in time. Her race through the woods had taken her to her favorite spot at the base of the misty waterfall that fed the small lake. Some days she would spend hours sitting at the base of the waterfall watching the mist it threw off create rainbows on sunny days. But the object of her attention wasn't the rainbows created by the waterfall, there weren't any now anyways since it was cloudy out. What she had come here to see was the graceful, flowing movements of the silver haired figure as he swung his sword through the air in complicated patterns and movements. Watching the warrior's dance of the swords always took her breath away, leaving an ache in her chest every time it ended.

Slashing away at invisible foes with his marvelous, long katana in sweeping fluid movements that wasted no energy the object of her attention continued his dance undisturbed. The minutes seemed to blend into hours as she sat there watching his ever moving form. With what seemed like a snap, the sliver-haired fighter performed the last move of his warrior's daily ritual, his sword extended straight up as if saluting the skies. Drops of water ran down his soaked body mingling with the sweat he had worked up during his exercise. He stayed like that for several seconds before walking behind the waterfall, Aeris silently following behind.

There she found him drying off his sword with the rags that used to be his overcoat in the surprisingly dry cave behind the waterfall that they lived in. He glanced up when he heard her bare feet padding along the smooth rock floor of the cave. Slowly he put down his sword, got up and approached her. No words passed between the two as they gazed into each other's eyes that conveyed to each other their every thought. Slowly he gathered Aeris up in his arms in a light, hesitant embrace. While the months they had spent together had done a lot towards making him comfortable around her he was still very gentle with her as if he was afraid that she could break at any second.

When they were together like this it felt like the whole world had melted away and all that existed was the two of them. Aeris still found it hard to believe that the man that had originally set out to kill her was now cradling her in his arms as they gazed out at the waterfall through the entrance of the cave. A sudden thought struck Aeris as the rain slowly disappeared. Moving out of his light hold, Aeris took his hand and led him out of the cave and continued walking until they were about fifteen feet away from the base of the waterfall, in the place where she had been watching him practice with his sword just a little while ago.

Looking up into the sky Aeris wasn't disappointed in her hunch as the sun suddenly broke through the cloud cover. Instantly a huge, gorgeous rainbow spread from the top of the waterfall and disappeared in the forest's horizon. Life was often like this rainbow Aeris observed, you always have to be on the lookout for opportunities or you'll miss out on the splendor of it. Aeris remembered the last great opportunity that had come suddenly like this rainbow had and was eternally grateful that she had fully embraced it. A sudden warmth spread throughout her body at what had come from that night. As if reading her thoughts Sephiroth's arms once came around her pulling her willing body up against his bare chest.

Both of them fell silent simply savoring the moment like they had so many others since they had come here, neither willing to break the mood. Once again Aeris's mind was drawn back to that moment so many months ago. One of her hands unconsciously drifted down to her growing belly and stroked the tiny life that was developing inside of her. Her lover seeing this gave her a gentile squeeze and one of his rare smiles came to his face as he too anticipated the arrival of the symbol of their union into the world.

* * *

Aeris awoke to the soft light of early morning feeling incredibly refreshed, the last moments of her puzzling dream fading into the ether. It took her a moment for her to realize where she was and when everything came back a huge smile broke out on her face at the prospect of spending another day in this lovely forest. Soon last night's dream she had had was almost completely forgotten, retreating back into her subconscious to process fully the meaning of what had happened in it and be examined at a much later time. The issue of food suddenly came to mind and luckily for Aeris there were berry bushes just a few feet away. 

As she slowly chewed a small handful of berries, savoring their surprisingly sweet and tangy taste, Aeris's mind drifted back to yesterday's events at the lake. While stumbling upon it had been such a wonderful find, Aeris itched to do even more exploring today. She wanted to examine every bush and tree in the forest, watch as many different animals as she could going about their daily lives, look under every rock and into every fallen log and find everything in it that was wonderful. She wanted to explore this place to its very limits and discover what secrets it held. Never before had she come to a place that called out to her as much as this place did, it was if she had finally found the place that she could settle down and call home. Aeris never wanted to leave.

Maybe she could convince Sephiroth to abandon his destructive vendetta and stay here with her. She was certain that this place called to his troubled soul and calmed it like it did hers. Ever since she had gotten here it seemed like all the pain and loneliness that she had experienced for the last five years fell away, leaving her feeling free and light as a feather. It had not missed her attention that this seemingly utopian forest had had a very similar effect on her silver haired companion. For the first time since she had performed CPR on him on the Ancient Isle he looked truly relaxed.

There were still shadows of his old self-imposed seclusion and deeply buried hurt and yearning lurking in his gaze quite often. Aeris was determined to drive all those shadows out of him and teach him how to enjoy life, starting today. Although he may never trust any human, she concluded. Some things were impossible to achieve even for an empathetic healer such as herself. But at least she was sure that she could get him to at least trust her given enough time.

While Aeris was lost in her contemplations Sephiroth had woken up in much a similar manner that Aeris had. It had truly been such a long time since he had slept so well or woken up feeling like he did since he had come to the valley. While his rest had left him completely refreshed, Sephiroth was starting to feel slightly restless. Being trapped in this valley with no apparent way out for gods knew how long had put a definite damper on the progress of his mission. But such thoughts didn't stay long in Sephiroth's mind. This place just seemed to make all of his worries and anxieties seem so distant and unimportant. He had a hard time trying to force himself to hold on to them since such thoughts and feelings really didn't help him in his current situation.

Sephiroth blinked suddenly and found Aeris's hand thrust in his face. Unsure at what she was trying to do he just sat there calmly regarding her. She had a big, genuine smile plastered on her face as she was bending over in front of him, partially blocking the sun. Ever since they had gotten here, Aeris had always gone about with a smile on her face Sephiroth idly noted. Oddly enough he found he preferred Aeris like this to the relationship they had had on the Ancient Isle. In any case he sometimes felt himself letting his guard down when he was around her out in the wilderness. And to top that puzzling fact off, he found that he really didn't care that he could be possibly be getting "soft" on Aeris.

Aeris slightly annoyed by Sephiroth's lack of response at her offer to help him up, (although she knew that he didn't need it, it was purely a gesture of friendship) swiftly grasped one of Sephiroth's hands that was resting idly on his legs and pulled his arm upwards, his body automatically following Aeris's lead. _Apparently_, Sephiroth thought, _Aeris wants to get going, no doubt to go off exploring again._

"Don't tell me that you want to sit around all day on a beautiful day such as this?" Aeris asked Sephiroth amused.

"Well what do you propose we do, Aeris? It's not like there is anywhere to go anyway," Sephiroth answered.

"What do you mean there is no place to go? There is a whole forest out there to explore and beyond it the entire Central Mountain Range awaits our presence," Aeris playfully retorted, starting to become excited at the prospect.

"Don't get your hopes up too high, if you haven't already noticed we're virtually trapped here. Even I can't find a way out of this valley," Sephiroth told her trying not to sound too harsh.

Suddenly a snippet of her dream last night came back to Aeris. Being trapped in this forested valley for months would definitely explain her familiarity she felt of the forest in her dream. Even so, Aeris felt like she was forgetting some important parts of her dream that she hadn't remembered yet. All that she had remembered in that sudden flashback was the very beginning of the dream strangely enough since most people only remember the very last bits of their nightly dreams (think the first two and a half paragraphs of the dream sequence).

The prospect of being trapped in this valley with Sephiroth, no matter how big it was, suddenly sent a thrill down Aeris's back. It was if she was excited at the idea of being around him for a long time without human interference, no matter how guilty that last part made her feel. What better opportunity could there be for her to work on softening his demeanor and teaching him how to embrace and find joy in nature? Looking out to the lake Aeris got an idea, but it would have to wait. First she wanted to get some serious exploring done.

"Come on, let's get going sleepyhead! Time won't wait for us to get moving and this valley won't be explored without us," Aeris excitedly spoke up.

"Why would you call me that Aeris?" Sephiroth found himself asking, "I got up only a few minutes after you did."

Aeris was delighted by this uncharacteristic question from Sephiroth, but she was careful not to show it.

"So where do you think we should go today?" Aeris asked, ignoring Sephiroth's previous question though he didn't seem to notice it.

"Anywhere's fine, it's not like there is much anything else to do while we're here," Sephiroth replied, "we could always set off to the other end of the lake and follow the cliff face to see if there is any place where we could climb up out of the valley."

"I don't understand why you seem so stuck on the idea of getting out of this place, we just got here," Aeris said, "and it would be a shame not to fully explore this place that the planet obviously led us to, to enjoy."

Sephiroth was stumped. Why did he keep on thinking about leaving when they had just got here? He could use the break and frankly Aeris's idea seemed like a pleasant pursuit. It couldn't hurt to stay for a few days or even a few weeks. It wasn't like he could proceed with his plans while he was stranded here anyway.

"To the waterfall it is," Aeris spoke up, making the decision for both of them.

* * *

Despite its size, it took Aeris and Sephiroth almost an hour to reach the other side of the lake while traveling at a leisurely pace. At the base of the cliff wall where the waterfall fell into the lake the mountains' bedrock was exposed to the open air, the pounding stream of the waterfall keeping the area clear of soil and plants for fifteen feet on both sides. By the time they had actually transversed the whole length of the bare rock, both Aeris and Sephiroth were slightly damp. But that fact didn't seem to deter Aeris in the slightest, it was a very warm day anyway, her burning curiosity driving her on to know what exactly was behind the waterfall. 

Sephiroth, despite what some might think based on his past reactions, was only very mildly irritated since Aeris had insisted on this diversion. But it really didn't matter anyway, since they were stuck there, and he found no harm in allowing Aeris to indulge in some of her whims. The best part of just allowing her to indulge in these childish behaviors was that it kept the peace between them and Sephiroth definitely preferred it that way.

"Wow! Sephiroth you must come over here! I can hardly believe this!" Aeris exclaimed.

Sephiroth followed her summons, he had nothing better to do and the chance that she had actually found something interesting wasn't all that far off. Skirting past an errant stream of water that fell separate from the rest of the mass, Sephiroth stepped behind the main column of the waterfall itself and was slightly impressed. Though it didn't seem physically possible, there was a large, _dry_ cave that ended about forty feet back that extended slightly to the right behind the waterfall. This place was very well hidden from sight by the waterfall and was large enough to easily accommodate at least ten people safely and comfortably. If he were just passing through this valley he would have immediately made this cave his camp; that is, if he could have found it.

"For some reason this place seems familiar, but I've never been here before….," Aeris distractedly murmured.

Sephiroth felt no such thing about where he was standing and frankly he didn't care.

"Oh well, not like it matters," Aeris chirped, "this place looks cozy, makes me think of home."

Sephiroth could find no connection between this dry, bare cave and the humble little cottages that populated the lush meadow valley she grew up in. _Aeris thinks in strange and convoluted ways,_ Sephiroth thought. Although saying that was like the pot calling the kettle black, neither of the two gifted beings in the cave thought in the commonly accepted "normal" patterns.

When Aeris had first stepped into the cave behind the waterfall, the sudden sense of familiarity had hit her so strongly that it had taken her a few seconds to regain herself. But the feeling had quickly faded, from where it came, becoming lost to Aeris. What she did notice was the lack of moisture in the cave and how, despite having no plant matter in it, it had the same sense of openness and peaceful natural flows in it like the rest of the forest had. The smooth bedrock that the cave was carved out of neither felt warm or cool to the touch and her fingers glided effortlessly over its surface, its texture feeling wonderful to her callused fingers.

Being in here made Aeris feel safe and secure, a feeling that Aeris had been missing for the better part of the last five years. If the valley was her home as she was beginning to think of it as, then this cave was her sanctuary.

"This will do," Aeris heard Sephiroth comment.

"This will do?" Aeris echoed Sephiroth's words.

"You mentioned that this place felt like home, didn't you? It's a much better place for us to make camp than out in the open next to the lake," Sephiroth explained.

"Plus in here, we won't tramp all around in the same place compacting the soil and making it harder for plants to grow," Aeris added.

_ Always thinking of not interrupting the natural flow of things, _Sephiroth noted.

"Let's get moving now that we have decided upon a location for our base of operations," Sephiroth said.

Without warning Aeris suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter. Frowning at Aeris for her illogical behavior, Sephiroth calmly waited for her to settle down.

"It's just that when said that you sounded like an army commander," Aeris explained, wiping a tear out of her eye, "I never took you to be the military type. The egotistical bastard and the violent nutcase yes, but never the rigidly ordered persona of a military officer. You've never shown that side of your personality to me before, you see."

"Thank you for pointing out to me that I'm a more complex person than the average Neanderthal," Sephiroth responded sarcastically, "although I did like the part about me being an egotistical bastard and a violent nutcase."

"Well you're a lot less violent than when I first met you," Aeris shot back, trying in vain to hide her amusement, "but you're still an egotistical bastard. That much about you hasn't changed."

"Humph, annoying Cetra," Sephiroth grunted.

"Obnoxious jerk," Aeris retorted trying to sound like Sephiroth.

"Resorting to calling names now girl?" Sephiroth asked.

"You started it, SEPHY," Aeris replied in the same manner.

"Illogical creature," Sephiroth bit back, starting to enjoy the argument despite himself.

"Over-inflated, pompous, arrogant, prick," Aeris countered, getting into the swing of things.

"Over-infatuated nature lover," Sephiroth returned.

"Insensitive brute," Aeris answered, starting to giggle.

"Space-case," Sephiroth retaliated.

"Vain peacock," Aeris quipped.

"Naive simpleton," Sephiroth responded.

"So now you're insulting my intelligence, you bleached airhead?" Aeris shot back.

"Leave my hair out of this Cetra," Sephiroth answered slightly offended.

Aeris couldn't help herself, she broke out into hysterical laughter. Sephiroth scowled at her over her victory at getting such a statement out of him.

"You…your hair…that indignant look on your face…" Aeris struggled to speak before her amusement at Sephiroth's expense overwhelmed her again as she started laughing even harder.

"Oh thank you Sephiroth," Aeris unevenly spoke, getting over her fit of laughter, "I haven't laughed like that for ages, no offense to your 'precious' hair."

Seeing the look on Sephiroth's face, Aeris hastily continued, "it's really lovely, your hair that is. But I just couldn't help myself back there when you started going after my intelligence. It's always been sort of a sore spot for me and whenever someone started trying to provoke me by making fun of my intellect I sort of instinctually went after their most cherished vanity."

Sephiroth stared at her with a blank look on his face. _She thinks my hair is lovely!_ he thought.

"Yes I do, how could it not be? It shines like molten silver in the sunlight and it's so long and pretty," Aeris told him.

_ Shit, I said that out loud?_ Sephiroth thought, wincing when she mentioned the word "pretty".

"Yes you did," Aeris amusedly answered him. Apparently he had spoken that last though out loud as well he realized.

"But you haven't been taking very good care of it you know. It's all matted and tangled with twigs and leaves in it. Right now it looks more brown than silver," Aeris commented.

It was quite true Sephiroth realized.

"Not like my hair is in any better condition either," Aeris added ruefully, "you wouldn't happen to have a comb or brush that survived through our attempt in spelunking?"

"No, but I probably could make one," Sephiroth answered offhandedly, as he withdrew a small hunting knife from a sealed inner pocket of his trench coat that had come through the cave intact.

"Really!" Aeris exclaimed with hope in her eyes.

"Yes if I find a suitable branch or bone, but it would be of very poor quality, and it would take some time to carve it," Sephiroth explained.

"Would you really make one?" Aeris asked, pursuing the idea.

"Yes, but not today. We've wasted a lot of time today already with this conversation. Its mid-day and I haven't had anything to eat since we got up," Sephiroth firmly told her.

* * *

After a lunch of berries and other fruits hanging from the trees and a quick trip back to the lake to refresh themselves and get a drink, Aeris and Sephiroth set off along the cliff wall, occasionally stopping whenever Aeris saw something that caught her attention. As the pair traveled, the good mood that they had gotten into behind the waterfall had continued as they occasionally bantered back and forth about various random subjects good-naturedly. They traveled for an hour and a half before Aeris suddenly announced that she was tired of walking over the rocks that littered the ground at the cliff's base and was heading back. Sephiroth had no choice to follow or be left behind and truthfully he was starting to get bored with the scenery as well. 

Their search for a place in the cliff wall that was scalable was a complete disaster and Sephiroth had the feeling that another search for such a place would produce similar results. He had to admit that they were truly stuck, no matter how much he didn't want to concede the fact. His own stubborn pride had been the only thing preventing him from admitting the truth to himself earlier. He wanted to hold onto that thin excuse for as long as possible, purposely deluding himself so he wouldn't have to admit another defeat.

Upon reflection, it seemed to be too much of a coincidence that they had "miraculously" made their way through the cave to this location relatively unscathed. That they had both survived the cave-in was pure chance, but everything that had happened afterwards seemed too coordinated for it to be an accident. The disappearance of his powers of flight and teleportation only reinforced the fact that they had been deliberately led and trapped here, though Aeris didn't seem to mind being imprisoned here by the planet at all. And that was exactly what this valley was, a prison. It was designed to speak to one's soul, and offer a carefree and comfortable lifestyle, but it was a prison nonetheless, meant to keep them from escaping.

Aeris might think of this place as a sanctuary and paradise, giving her respite from the outside world, but Sephiroth wasn't convinced. The very essence of this place was wearing down his resolutions and the more time he spent here, the more he wanted to stay here. And if things kept on going as they were, it wouldn't be long before he truly wouldn't care about his plans of revenge and godhood and would be content to spend the rest of his life with Aeris here.

_ Yes, I admit it,_ Sephiroth thought, _I enjoy being in Aeris's company even though it wasn't too long ago that I viewed her as an enemy that I had to dispose of immediately._ _Gah, what a mess I've gotten myself in. She's wearing down my defenses and is worming her way into my inner self. She really is dangerous, just in a different way than I had originally thought._

Lost in his reflections while sitting on a rock at the lake's shore, Sephiroth never noticed Aeris look over at him and smile evilly. _Oh, what a perfect opportunity, _Aeris inwardly chortled,_ he is totally out of it and has no idea what is going on around him. And he called me the space-case!_ Aeris was determined to make him loosen up and actually smile instead of glowering at everything all the time. The best way she though to go about it was to continually catch him off guard and get different reactions out of him. Although she hadn't planned on the earlier jesting back in the cave, Aeris immediately saw it as a perfect opportunity to start and it had paid off handsomely. Not only did she find out a new side of him, but she got him to get involved in the silly game and had slipped past his defenses with that subtle comment about his hair which he had naturally picked up.

Oh what a wonderful day it had been, but it wasn't over yet. There was still one thing she wanted to try before the sun set. Slowly slipping out of her dress and shoes and carefully laying them aside, Aeris with an air of nonchalance stepped into the lake, waded out until she was waist deep and swept her arm down hitting the surface of the water with a loud _smack_, sending a large splash right towards Sephiroth that hit him dead on.

Sephiroth was satisfactorily surprised and lashed out at his attacker, his fist going through nothing but empty air. Not giving him the chance to get his bearings, Aeris sent another wave of water at him, followed by another and another, never letting up on her barrage until he furiously strode into the lake and sent a huge splash back at her. Aeris gave a small "eeep!" and started frantically swimming away from the strong swordsman bent on retaliation.

But her flight from him was in vain, for within two minutes he was on her and was dragging her back to shore with an arm around her waist while she frantically struggled to get out of his grip. Both of them were thoroughly wet by the time Sephiroth had dragged her back to the shore and dumped a madly giggling Aeris onto the wet sand. While he really wanted to give her a through tongue lashing for her actions, Sephiroth held himself back since she had actually had done nothing wrong and had got him fair and square.

"Very amusing Aeris," Sephiroth began, "you thought that it was oh so clever of you to try and catch me off guard in a way that kept you out of my reach. What you failed to think about is that I am much, much faster than you on land or in the water. And now I believe that I am due some compensation for your little trick."

Aeris bolted, or tried to but Sephiroth had pinned her before she had even got to her feet. Keeping a firm grip on the wiggling brunette, Sephiroth threw her over his shoulder and started marching off towards the waterfall, ignoring her protests. Once he was next to the waterfall he slung her off his shoulder and threw her into the lake near where the waterfall hit the lake's surface. A few seconds later Aeris broke through the water's surface sputtering while she shot Sephiroth an evil glare, only to quickly backpedal after he kicked off his combat boots and flung off his trench coat and dove into the water right at her.

As if predicting what would happen next Aeris wildly started kicking the water in an attempt to get away from the submerged man. Her left foot solidly hit his chest when one of his arms grabbed her other foot around the ankle and he swiftly dragged her underwater, letting go of her quickly so she had enough air to get to the surface. By the time her head broke through the water's surface for the second time within one minute, Sephiroth had already climbed out of the water and was wringing the water out of his hair.

"No fair!" a breathless Aeris gasped.

"It's perfectly fair Aeris, I was just paying you back for the stunts you pulled yesterday and today," Sephiroth replied in a droll tone.

"No it's not! You're stronger than me, there's no way that I can fight back against that!" Aeris yelled at him.

"I seem to recall differently about your inability to fight back against me when you drugged my soup," Sephiroth returned.

Aeris blushed. Now that some time had elapsed between that incident and the present she was slightly ashamed of her actions. But back then she was desperate and it seemed just the only way to escape from a cruel end at his hands. She was justified in her actions, at that point Sephiroth still was very viable to kill her at any moment's notice without hesitation. Since then he had considerably softened his attitude regarding her and at this present time she would never dream about repeating her past actions. Aeris told him just that, except the parts about him wanting to kill her and his apparent lack of interest in doing that presently (and the part of him getting soft, she didn't want to rile him up anymore).

Still Aeris was pleased at his choice of retaliation against her, (even if she didn't like being thrown into the lake) it showed that his violent reactions were disappearing and he was developing different forms of dealing with her when she was deliberately annoying him. It also showed that his long dormant sense of humor was surfacing, that or he was developing one for the first time in his life. If she could teach him that there were different ways of enjoying himself other than violence and cruelity, perhaps she could convince him to abandon his quest for revenge and power. That path only led to misery and suffering for everyone, including himself and he could very easily end up destroying himself in the process.

Today was a good start, but if Aeris wanted to work her magic on him to the full extent, she had a lot more work to do. Work that she gladly looked forward to, since not only would it be self-fulfilling, but it would also be a lot of fun. She wanted to make him genuinely laugh and see his real smile, not his frequent scowls or less frequent smirks, but a real smile. Aeris couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

Warning: while I was writing this author's note, I was extremely high on the after effects of finishing this chapter, so some of the things I might of wrote could be werid. 

Whew! That was the longest one yet! Twenty pages of story not including the author's not at the end. Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it. Especially the part of the cave behind the waterfall and their antics in the lake.

Whee! I'm so excited, things are really starting to develop and heat up between the two. A big event is coming and the climax isn't too far off! There are only three to four chapters left and in the next one I will answer the question that has been on all of your minds: "Who are Sephy's parents?" There's that plus more so stay tuned for the next episode of Children of Prophecy!

Now on to my review responses.

To keeki: well the romance is speeding up and there's even more to come in the next chapter. I glad that you think that this is a good AU Aeriseph, I try hard to do my best. I certainly tried to come up with an original plot, it's harder than one thinks!

To The Hot Mage Aeris: ah, my favorite author of spoof FF7 fics. Always nice to see one of my favorite authors and fellow obsessed Aeriseph fans reviewing my work. Your praise for my story is enthusatic as usual, something that I fully encourage. I'm just disappointed that I haven't received any really strange or wacky ones yet.

To thegr8sephiroth: one of my most frequent reviewers! Thanks for keeping up the feedback! Sorry about the misspelling, I always proofread my chapters before I submit them, but I can never catch everything. But a beta would help…anyone willing? Thought not. Oh well, one can always hope. Other than that I'm glad that this fic meets your approval.

To Brdm18: I'm not the only ones that make misspellings in my writing turkeybutt! Take a second look at the review you left me for Ch.6. Didn't you read my response in one of my earlier chapters where I clearly stated that there would only be **FOUR** characters from FF7 in my fic, and that they had all been introduced already? J/K, I know you're joking. I will keep writing more of this fic, but the amount of school work that I have will determine how fast the updates come. Thanks for the review! (for those of you who don't know or haven't guessed it, I know this person very well, but I won't diverge our relationship unless I have their permision).

To Tishanna: man, if I knew that leaving a review for someone's story mentioning the fact that they have this fic on their favorite's or alerts list would get them to give me a review, I would have done it much sooner! No I won't do that to anyone else that has my story on their list, but it wouldn't hurt if you did leave a review anyway…Oh well. Thanks for your overwhelming praise for my fic, so glad that you enjoy it so much. Hope this chapter was long enough for your tastes. I just couldn't stop writing it!

I have no idea when the next update will be, but when I have a rough idea of when the next one will be done I will post it on my author's profile.

For those of you who read and don't review, SHAME ON YOU! For those of you that do, my thanks. Those reviews give me impetus to write faster and stop putting off my updates.

So review, review, review! Won't you please leave me a review?


	8. The Taming of the Spawn

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own the plotline or characters of FF7 but I do own the storyline of this story.

Ch.8- The Taming of the Spawn.

As per his promise, on the fourth day of their stay in the isolated valley Sephiroth could be found sitting on a log in the shade of the forest meticulously whittling away on a four inch section of a fallen tree branch, a look of utmost concentration on his face. The pervious day he had spent two hours scouring the forest floor looking for a suitable piece of wood that could be made into a comb. The wood had to be dry and rather stout, but not green or rotten. In a warm and moist climate such as this, fallen branches or logs tended to start rotting within three to four months after hitting the forest floor, if not earlier. At the same time it took about two to three months for the wood to thoroughly dry out in the first place. That left a very narrow margin of time for any fallen branches to reach the state Sephiroth was looking for to make the much needed hair de-tangler device.

Luckily for both Sephiroth and Aeris, he had found such a piece after only two hours of almost fruitless searching. The only reason why it was found in the first place was because Aeris had literally stumbled over it, her fall ending in a thankfully thorn-free bush. Tripping over the offending piece of wood didn't seem to faze her in the slightest, apparently the bush she had landed in was a common ingredient used in many of her herbal remedies. While she was happily humming away, collecting as many of its leaves as she could fit into her dress's pockets, Sephiroth on a whim had stooped down and examined the branch that was the inadvertent cause of her discovery. Informing her that he had found a suitable branch, Sephiroth swiftly headed back to the lake to retrieve his hunting knife from his trench coat that he had left lying on the floor of the cave behind the waterfall.

It had been quite a long time since Sephiroth had had to carve anything, since he could always take whatever he needed from human habitations before. Due to this fact, he had gotten quite rusty at using his knife in this particular manner. It had only taken him a half hour of trying to carve into the hard wood before Sephiroth had given up in disgust for the day, tired of the whole affair. But Sephiroth was not the type of person who was easily discouraged, so without fail the very next day he was determinedly scraping away at the obnoxious piece of wood, a small pile of wood shavings collecting at his feet.

* * *

Aeris, when she had woken up the next day, upon seeing Sephiroth absorbed in his work had decided not to bother him, so she told him that she would be off today searching for more herbs to make some simple but very useful medicines out of. After a distracted reply from the busy warrior-temporarily-turned-carver, she happily vacated the premises in favor of the shade under the forest canopy.

Time quickly went by for the happily-occupied Cetra while she was out searching for both new and familiar plants with medicinal properties, the planet helpfully pointing out ones she missed and explaining the uses of ones she had no clue about. Eventually though Aeris's feet started to get sore and she quickly tired of her expedition not long after. As she headed back towards the lake, her feet knowing exactly where to go even if she wasn't precisely sure where she was, Aeris was looking forward to another swim in the lake. She also was hoping that Sephiroth had finished carving that comb, her hair was in desperate need of de-matting.

It was times like this when Aeris sometimes seriously debated just cutting the whole length off at least two feet to a more manageable length. But vanity always won out in the end, she was very proud of her hair and she secretly thought that it was the best part about her. _Everyone is allowed their own personal vanity, aren't they?_ Aeris thought every time she considered hacking off the sometimes vexing long length of golden brown hair. Besides, brushing her long tresses reminded her of her mother who had long ago departed for the paradise of the Cetra, joining her beloved husband who had passed on even before Aeris was born. Before her mother had died, they had spent hours every day brushing each other's long hair once Aeris was old enough to do such things. During their daily grooming sessions Aeris often told her mother of her dreams and silly fantasies while Ilfania had dazzled Aeris with Cetran lore and legends.

It was only after her mother had passed away two weeks before Aeris turned seven that she had learned about the accursed prophecy that would cause her so much misery in the coming years. Shortly thereafter Elymara had taken the young girl in and started training her as her apprentice. Her studies at first were a welcome distraction for Aeris's young mind to help cope with her grief. But only a few months after she had started training as an herbalist and a healer, Aeris became totally enthralled with the subject. She joyfully spent the next eight years cramming as much knowledge on plants and their uses as she could before she suddenly found herself packing her possessions, ready to set off on her own.

Reflecting upon the happy years of her childhood in Rose Valley, Aeris belatedly realized that she wasn't as careful about her heritage as she should have been. The only reason why more people other than Zack had put two-and-two together and figured out her biggest secret was because life in Rose Valley was so carefree and fulfilling. To the people who lived there, their existence was so fulfilling that they never pried into their neighbor's lives extensively or really paid too much attention to strange events. She had been luckier than she had thought, since her secret was never revealed by those who had figured out. _Elymara must have known_, Aeris thought ruefully, _why else would she take me in so quickly and easily. She knew that helping others was in my blood, what professional in the healing arts could ask for a better apprentice than a young nubile Cetra eager to learn their profession? Well it could also be because she was such a close friend of my parents before they died…_

Though she never knew the exact events of their first meeting, Aeris vaguely remembered the story of how Ilfania met Elymara on the one year anniversary of her parents when they were still courting. Her dad, a traveler who was known by his last name only, Gast, had just settled down in Rose Valley the previous year to court her mother and had planned something romantic for Iflania. But like he often did, totally fumbled his attempt at impressing her mother by falling in the fountain in the middle of the village. It was a chilly day out and upon hearing the commotion outside, Elymara, an apprentice herbal healer at the time had rushed out and dragged Gast into her cottage to dry next to the fire, her mother following chortling. Apparently Elymara was still inexperienced in her practice since she was worried about Gast catching pneumonia within the hour. They became fast friends after their first encounter.

The story how her parents had met, on the other hand, was very well-known and beloved to Aeris. Ironically enough Gast had originally attracted Ilfania's attention by falling into that same fountain that he did one year later. He had caught sight of her mother's hair flashing in the midday sun and was immediately drawn to it. He wasn't watching where he was going and performed a lovely belly flop into flowing fountain. Her mother's reaction was to laugh merrily at his antics while helping the sopping wet wanderer out of the fountain. Her mother had joked that it was love at first sight when they met, at least on her father's behalf.

It was pure chance that Gast had found out that her mother was a Cetra. But he took it the discovery in stride, claiming that he knew from the first time he laid eyes on her that there was something magical about her. Ilfania had whacked him for that comment saying that he was being a smart-ass. By the time he had proposed to her in front of the whole village at the spring equinox celebration her mother was so fed up with him not willing to make the next move she was about to ask him herself. Needless to say she instantly accepted. Three years later Iflania was two months pregnant with Aeris when Gast died in a hunting accident.

Upon the moment of his death the planet had informed Ilfania of Gast's unknown and undiscovered half-blood heritage when he had surprisingly showed up in the Promised Land. All those years she had yearned to revel in the planet's song with her beloved thinking that he couldn't because he was human, while he had been half-Cetra the whole time. In its own way fate was just as cruel to her mother as it had been to her these past five years.

By the time Aeris had finished reviewing her life's story, she was back at the lake.

* * *

After an hour of not much progress and making his thumbs sore, Sephiroth was finally getting much more fluid and efficient with using the hunting knife-converted-into-carving-knife. As the wood shavings fell faster the shape and teeth of the comb gradually emerged, but it was hardly a piece of art. Holding the completed comb in his hands Sephiroth stared at the fruit of his labors. It was about four inches long and had ten thick, uneven teeth spaced at irregular intervals along its length. He had done his best to get it as smooth as possible, but the comb was still unsatisfactorily rough to the touch. But it would have to do, since he was thoroughly sick of working on the dammed thing.

With the task of making the comb finished and Aeris still off "gathering herbs" (although he seriously doubted it, he figured that she had probably gotten lost in the forest again) there wasn't much else to do. He really didn't feel like wandering through the forest after their fruitless search along the cliff base a few days ago. With Aeris gone, he had nothing to distract him from his thoughts and he was tired of thinking. It was one of those rare times in his life where he was experiencing the torments of the emotion called boredom.

After half an hour of laying underneath the dark green leaves of a twenty foot tall young tree Sephiroth agitatedly got to his feet, inactivity eating away at his inner peace. Marching off to the cave where his belongings were stored, Sephiroth was thinking of something, ANYTHING that he could do to distract himself from his boredom. The first thing his eyes fell upon when he entered the cave was his sword, looking forlorn and begging to be used (to Sephiroth at least). Sadly there were no monsters in this valley, nor even any large predators that he could hunt down. In short there was nothing in this place that he could stick Masamune into, other else than trees which Aeris would yell at him for. _But that doesn't mean that there is nothing I can do with Masamune,_ Sephiroth thought, an idea striking him, _I do need to keep my skills sharp and a little practice never hurt anyone._

Picking up his sword like it weighed less than a feather, Sephiroth strode out of the cave and back under the forest canopy to do some much needed training. He raised his sword up into the air to perform the first move in his customary routine, only to have the tip of his blade sink into the trunk of a tree nearby. Looking around, Sephiroth growled, while it was rather open under the tree canopy, there wasn't enough room for him to be able to fully perform his workout. He walked back out from under the shade cast by the trees and onto the sunny lakeshore.

While there was enough room to suit his needs, there was sand everywhere. Sephiroth's lip curled in disgust at the thought of training in the sand. His moves tended to whip it up and more often than not, it ended up getting into places he preferred that it not, like his eyes. Surveying his surroundings for _anyplace_ that he could use to practice on, his eyes fell upon an area on the right side of the waterfall about thirty feet away from the cascading water. Not having anything better to do he set off in its direction.

When he got there, Sephiroth was pleased by what he saw. It wasn't prefect but it was better than on the beach or under the trees. In front of him lay a thirty foot long and twenty foot wide relatively flat stretch of rock with the cliff bordering it on one side and the lake on the other. He would have preferred that the area was larger and that the lake wasn't on one side, but beggars can't be choosers, and it was the only clear space around that didn't have sand or trees that was big enough for him and his eight foot long katana. There were downsides to having such a long sword sometimes.

Lifting his sword into his first pose, Sephiroth quickly slashed it horizontally across the air, followed by a diagonal swipe upwards. Soon he found himself settling into the rhythm of the sword dance, his body knowing what to do since he had done this exercise hundreds of times. Sephiroth unexpectedly found his thoughts wandering while he rapidly moved from one move to another. He remembered the time he first set eyes on the legendary Masamune when he was just eight years old.

* * *

Flashback:

He had been scrounging for food out in the woods when he came across a slumbering warrior from the far off island in the north, called Pallin, known for its traditional values and impressive fighters of almost all weapons. The warriors from that island were most acclaimed for was for their unique sword fighting styles, there were over a hundred of them on that far off island. The sword of choice for many of these warriors was the katana, the only sword that was created there and the most predominately used even now. To find one of these warriors this far away from his native island was very odd, but what really caught young Sephiroth's eye was the monstrously long sword leaning on a tree next to the man.

Being the child of Jenova, even though it had made his childhood miserable due to human hunters trying to kill them (though they never got close), he was totally fearless and had no qualms about taking what he wanted or in satisfying his childish curiosity, regardless of the consequences for others. And right now, his curiosity had been fully sparked by that impressive looking weapon casually leaning on that tree. Boldly walking past the napping swordsman, young Sephiroth confidently grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands.

Having his hands grasping the hilt of this masterful sword sent a thrill down young Sephiroth's spine. He knew right then and there that he had to have this sword. So he callously tried to lift the sword, but it was heavier than he had thought and he could barely hold the long thing at eye level. Sweat beaded on his brow as his arms quickly tired and he fought to keep the sword's tip off the ground. _I will not be defeated by a mere sword! I am the son of Jenova, the chosen one to rid the world of its filth!_ young Sephiroth furiously thought. Suddenly he felt a sharp, cold point being pressed into the back of his neck.

"If you want Masamune little urchin, you must earn it," a gruff voice spoke behind him.

Finally lowering the blade to the ground young Sephiroth fearlessly turned around and boldly looked the now awake swordsman in the eye. Amusement rippled through his mind, _a mere human defying me? He must not know who I am_ young Sephiroth smugly thought.

"Oh you're certainly arrogant enough for a stripling, I'll give you that," the swordsman spoke again, sheathing his weapon.

"That sword is mine," young Sephiroth confidently stated.

"You're not humble either I see," the warrior responded, "given your unnatural strength at this young an age, you'll certainly be able to lift Masamune without any trouble in a few years. But you are absolutely not ready even to do the most basic moves with even a regular katana."

"Who are you to be judging my skill!" young Sephiroth angrily yelled.

"Someone with far more experience than you, boastful youngling," the warrior replied, tight lipped, "I'll give you a deal little imp, you train under me for a few years and when you are able to beat me with a broom handle without breaking it, I'll give you Masamune."

"What kind of fool do you think I am? A broom handle? What an absurd idea," young Sephiroth scoffed.

"Take it or leave it, you'll never get this sword any other way," the warrior said, strapping Masamune to his back and walking away.

-If you really want that sword so much son, swallow your pride and take his offer, you could do with the discipline his training would provide you- Jenova grumpily spoke in his mind. Young Sephiroth scowled, he didn't like getting lectured by his mother, but he really did want that sword and he would do almost anything to get it. Besides, learning how to most effectively use it to kill things sounded useful. With that last though young Sephiroth scampered off after the moving warrior.

* * *

The sound of Masamune's blade cutting through the air echoed off the cliff and into the forest, reaching Aeris's perceptible ears. _What is going on?_ Aeris confusedly thought, _is Sephiroth under attack? There's nothing in the forest that can harm either of us except a falling tree and I think that Sephiroth would be fast enough to be avoid that._

Cautiously creeping towards the sounds of the whistling blade, Aeris silently made her way towards the clearing on the right side of the waterfall. What she saw took her breath away. Right before her eyes, sun flashing off his silver hair and silver blade was Sephiroth performing a graceful and complicated sword dance, sweat glistening off his back. Even though it was a dance of death, Aeris felt no violence in Sephiroth's movements as he was lost in the motions of his sword. Rather she saw his routine as a sign of dedication to sword fighting itself as an art rather than a means of killing others.

Without warning another part of the dream she had days ago hit her full force. _I must be imagining things, I could have sworn that I saw this exact pattern of swordplay in my dream. There's no way that I could be seeing this right now. It can't be real!_ Aeris dazedly thought. A twig scrapping her arm reminded her that what she was seeing was very real and no, she wasn't going crazy. In awe Aeris watched Sephiroth perform his final move, his sword saluting the sky.

"You might as well come out of the bushes Aeris," Sephiroth's voice drifted over the lake.

Caught, Aeris emerged blushing from behind the bush she was spying upon Sephiroth from. Her embarrassment didn't last long and within a few moments she had reached Sephiroth's side.

"That was beautiful Sephiroth," Aeris commented softly, "so this is what you do in your spare time."

"Normally when I get restless, I go off and find something to fight," Sephiroth answered her unspoken question.

"Well when I'm bored, I go off and walk through the woods and collect useful plants for my remedies," Aeris said.

"You mean that you go get yourself lost in the woods," Sephiroth corrected her.

"Nope," Aeris happily corrected _him_.

"Humph, obnoxious Cetra," Sephiroth half-heartedly snorted.

"Anytime Sephiroth," Aeris happily replied.

"………" was Sephiroth's response.

"Phew you stink Sephiroth! If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn that you had a run in with a sunk," Aeris exclaimed.

"No better than you," Sephiroth said, in a deadpan voice.

"Well that might be, but things that stink so much need a good WASHING!" Aeris shouted, pushing a startled Sephiroth into the lake.

"That's it! I'm going to KILL YOU AERIS!" Sephiroth shouted when he surfaced as Aeris broke into a full sprint laughing her head off at the steamed warrior.

* * *

An hour later, an exhausted, dripping wet Aeris crawled onto the sandy beach next to the clearing near the waterfall. A few seconds a less exhausted, but worn out and equally soaked Sephiroth did the same. Contentedly sighing, Aeris flipped onto her back and stared at the passing clouds in the sky.

"That was fun, wasn't it Sephiroth?" Aeris asked.

"Your definition of fun quite differs from mine Aeris," Sephiroth answered.

"You can't spend all of your time hacking and slashing at monsters," Aeris replied, "geeze, you need to live a little and I intend to make you."

Sephiroth groaned. Life with Aeris would be interesting to say the least.

"So where did you grow up Sephiroth?" Aeris asked out of the blue.

Not feeling up for another match of verbal sparring, Sephiroth responded, "in the wild all over the Werely and Emal continents. My home was the forests and grasslands, my backyard the mountains and canyons."

"Wow, you sound so nostalgic, makes me wish that I could have spent my childhood rather than the last five years out with nature," Aeris remarked.

"My child wasn't full of flowers and sunshine, Aeris," Sephiroth replied darkly, "unlike you, I had to fight to survive."

"Just like I had to for the last five years, thanks to you," Aeris angrily muttered too softly for Sephiroth to hear.

"Well unlike you Sephiroth, people weren't afraid of me and I was _constantly_ being hunted by people afraid of the prophecy," Aeris shot back, "not that that matters anymore, since no one knows where we are and even if they did, they can't reach us, being stranded and all."

"So now things can go back to being sunshine and daises for you?" Sephiroth snapped at Aeris.

Aeris was about to make a nasty shot at Sephiroth when she remembered the argument in the cavern under the mountain. Forcibly calming herself down, Aeris carefully chose her next words.

"Let's stop this before it gets out of hand, we don't want a repeat of our last argument," Aeris rationalized.

Sephiroth stopped whatever hurtful remark that was about to leave his mouth. _She's right_ Sephiroth thought, shaken. He couldn't believe that he had let his anger cloud his judgment again. It quickly dispelled, leaving him feeling weak and drained. Aeris's influence it seemed had been bringing out all of his emotions, not just amusement and displeasure. As much as he tried to stay disinterested in Aeris he found himself envying her openness and pure expression of her happiness. To his amazement the longer he was with her the more he found that he could do all those things and more. What was even more astounding was that Sephiroth actually _wanted_ this change in his demeanor. He wasn't sure how much of an effect this valley was having on this need, but it was mostly fueled by Aeris herself.

"If you learn to let go of your anger and arrogance you will find that you too can experience roses and rainbows," Aeris quietly commented with great insight on Sephiroth whirling thoughts.

Sephiroth chose not to respond to that.

"I just feel bad that you never were able to enjoy your childhood," Aeris reflected, "having no one to care about you is an existence I would wish on no one."

"And yet that is what my whole life has been apart from Jenova's guidance," Sephiroth recollected.

"Not anymore. I'll make sure that you're never alone again Sephiroth, I'll stay by your side," Aeris promised him without hesitation.

Sephiroth found himself speechless. He couldn't even put together a rational thought after Aeris's declaration. How loudly his heart seemed to be beating after that last statement. Strange feelings welled up in Sephiroth's heart, preventing him from speaking.

"Thank you," he finally replied, his voice thick with some unknown emotion to both him and Aeris.

* * *

The subtle gathering of energies nearby awoke Aeris from her slumber. She had been in a deep sleep when her senses felt the very slight shift in the natural lifeflows. Usually Aeris wouldn't be bothered by such a minor change, but when it steadily grew stronger and more centralized, Aeris grudgingly left Morphious's kingdom. Her mind still clouded with sleep, Aeris observed the odd spectacle going on in front of her with a detached interest. Despite the momentous importance of what was occurring before her eyes the significance of what Aeris was seeing went unregistered in her mind.

Wisps of vibrant emerald green lifestream were coming from all around and were gently swirling around the sleepy Cetra and the sound asleep warrior. Inside the faint circle of lifestream that was circling around the edge of the cave another more solid, thicker circle of the very essence of the planet's power was rapidly spinning around the two. Faster and faster it rotated, with each completed cycle, the circle getting thicker and brighter as it drew closer to the sleepy and sleeping individuals. Soon the whirling mass was close enough to touch the skin of Aeris's neck and was caressing Sephiroth's hair.

Then, contact! The moment the circle touched Aeris's skin at the same time it did for Sephiroth, it immediately started sinking into her psyche and her soul. But instead of feeling alarmed like she should have, Aeris only felt a gentle infusion of warmth and quickly found herself falling back asleep. Now the circle wasn't a circle anymore, instead it had formed two loops, one encircling person that was connected by a thick band. Before Aeris could witness the completion of the ancient ritual the planet was performing for the two, the blanket of sleep covered her again. She slept through the rest of the night undisturbed by dreams.

* * *

Aeris woke up feeling rejuvenated and ready for anything, greeting the light of false-dawn with a bright smile. She just knew that today's sunrise would be absolutely enchanting and she didn't want Sephiroth to miss it. Gently nudging his shoulder Aeris got up and stretched before padding to the entrance of the cave to wait for her stirring companion, the previous night's events completely forgotten.

"Why would you get me up at such an early hour?" Sephiroth quietly asked.

"Look," was Aeris's one worded reply as she pointed towards the east.

Not a second later the true sunrise began, both of them silently watching it and absorbing the tranquil and lovely event. A few minutes later, the sun was fully up and both occupants of the cave had turned their minds to other matters. The first thing to do obviously would be to find something to eat. But instead of setting off in different directions to look for something edible to consume, Sephiroth followed Aeris as she walked under the trees. They walked together for a few moments in a companionable silence, the sounds of birdsong everywhere.

It was shaping up to be another warm and lovely day in the forested valley and Sephiroth idly thought if it was always like this. It wouldn't be too unreasonable of an idea, since this his sense of direction told him that they were just a bit south of the equator, which spent most of the year in perpetual summer. _This place truly is a paradise_ Sephiroth thought with wonder. Here a person could live without any worries or hardships, the vast abundance of this valley enough so that they could spend their whole lives here causing hardly an impact on the place if they respected nature's flows.

"It must rain here sometime, everything around here is so lush for it not to," Sephiroth idly mused.

Such a statement would have been totally out of character for Sephiroth a few weeks ago, which Aeris instantly picked up. _How rapidly he is opening up and becoming more relaxed around me_, Aeris thought. Unfamiliar emotions rose up in Aeris at that idea. One thing for certain that she could make out of these strange feelings was that she was glad, even proud of his progress.

A breeze of wind blew past Aeris telling her many things about the forest going on around her. It also told her that…

"It's going to rain later today, sometime in the afternoon," Aeris informed Sephiroth.

He didn't look very pleased at the prospect.

"Don't worry, it will only last an hour or two, we did get here in the middle of the summer rainy season after all. The last few days have just been a break between storm systems," Aeris explained.

"And how do you know this?" Sephiroth questioned.

"The planet told me," was her short answer.

During their conversation they had come upon a short, shade-loving tree that was heavily laden with pink, wedge shaped fruit. Reaching up Aeris snagged two particularly plump looking specimens and handed one to Sephiroth while she hungrily bit deeply into the other. Both of them had hardy appetites, all the travel they had been doing had kept it sharp, and within a few minutes they were both reaching for more.

"How can you stand all this fruit day after day Aeris?" Sephiroth asked after his fourth piece.

"Easily. After having to eat roots and fleshy plant leaves for months along with the occasional crispy critter, all this fruit is a very welcome relief to my poor abused taste buds," Aeris told him with a tone of distaste at the memory of the previous staples which she had to survive off of.

"Werely continent had little in the way of fruits or berries every since summer ended a while ago. There were times when I even ate grubs I found in rotting logs just for a change of flavor to my diet," she continued.

"Still as much as you relish fruit, you need protein in your diet Aeris," Sephiroth reasoned.

She gave him a bland look.

"You expect me to eat more of those roast rodents?" she asked disgustedly.

"Since there isn't much else around here, yes," Sephiroth answered in a clipped tone.

"It's kind of hard to eat rodents raw and I wouldn't dream of creating a fire here unless it was absolutely necessary. I don't want to cut down any of these trees," Aeris replied back impishly.

Sephiroth sighed, _Aeris is being stubborn again. In this mind set I will never convince her to eat more meat. Besides, I also don't much feel like making any fires here, it's too warm and using any potentially destructive tool of man here feels totally wrong._

"I agree with your sentiments about disturbing the forest as little as possible, but that doesn't change the fact that we can't survive off of fruit alone," Sephiroth tried to explain.

"Actually I can. Cetra by nature don't eat meat unless there is nothing else available. We can survive just fine off of fruits, nuts, roots, and other edible plants," was Aeris's unexpected reply.

"The planet really designed this place for your kind to live here didn't it," Sephiroth tossed out.

"I had never thought of this place that way," Aeris murmured disturbed.

If that was the case then it was no accident that they had ended up here. Had Aeris finally found the ancestral home of the Cetra? It was an idea worth pondering. What purpose did the planet have in guiding them here? Aeris could understand it taking her here, but Sephiroth? What role did the planet hope that he would fulfill?

Normally such thoughts would have haunted Aeris for days, but this valley was no normal place and within a few moments Aeris found her worries and misgiving disappearing. Soon she had totally forgotten her apprehensions from a few moments ago. It was such a nice day that unhappy and disturbing notions never stuck around long anyway. Before she knew it they were traveling back to the lake, a happy tune bouncing around in her head.

* * *

Sure enough, two hours after the sun reached its zenith it started sprinkling. Aeris had earlier dragged Sephiroth back out into the forest for a leisurely walk, so consequently they had been caught out in the open when the light sprinkle turned into a heavy downpour. Quickly sprinting to the cave to escape the rain, Sephiroth was busy trying to keep his wet hair out of his face while Aeris was savoring the experience of running in the warm rain.

Breathless Aeris dashed into the cave, a wet and irritated looking Sephiroth following. As Sephiroth sat down and starting wringing the water out of his hair Aeris went to the back of the cave and starting rummaging around in the meager pile of their possessions that had come out with them from the under mountain cavern. With a triumphant exclamation Aeris pulled her prize out from the heap.

Without wasting any time, Aeris put the object she was holding to good use, a content look coming over her face as she settled into the rhythm of her activity. Looking over at Aeris who was happily combing her hair, Sephiroth suddenly felt like his own hair was in a disgusting state. It really had been too long since he had taken proper care of his long mass of hair and now he wished that he had thought of going for the comb before Aeris did. That way he could have gotten his hair untangled first. As much as Aeris seemed to be enjoying her ministrations, it appeared that she was having some trouble with a particularly nasty knot that the comb was getting hopelessly stuck in.

Swiftly he got up, moved over to her and took the comb out of her hands as she was tugging hard on it. He patiently worked the comb out of the huge tangle that it was stuck on with surprising gentleness and then proceeded to start working on untangling the knot himself. _I'm just doing this because I don't want all that work I put into the blasted comb to go to waste if she broke it after its first use,_ Sephiroth reasoned to himself. Secretly he really wanted an excuse to run his fingers through her long soft hair that could even rival his own. Aeris sighed as she sank back into his touch, enjoying the feeling of his strokes with the comb through her hair. He was so gentle that she never felt anything even when he furiously fought with every knot and snarl that he came across.

Aeris felt so safe and secure while Sephiroth was combing her hair. With her mother, brushing each other's hair had been an expression of close intimacy. Now she was feeling the same thing while the puzzling enigma called Sephiroth was doing the same thing. But in a way it was different than the times with her mother, she felt the same tenderness in Sephiroth's actions as she had felt from Ilfania, but with him in a way it was deeper, more meaningful. There was nothing parental about what she was feeling from Sephiroth now.

Before she knew it he was done and her hair, while still damp felt much lighter than it had been and was silky to the touch. Sephiroth rain his fingers through her hair once more, supposedly checking for any last tangles, before regretfully withdrawing his hands for the final time. Aeris's scalp tingled with the after effects of Sephiroth's ministrations to her hair and she ached for him to run the comb through it again.

His task done, Sephiroth next turned to straightening out his own tangled and matted hair. But he wasn't even able to start on his own messy hair before Aeris plucked the comb from his hand with a mischievous smile. Plopping herself down behind him she set about repaying Sephiroth the favor as she starting working out the first knot with equal gentleness to what he had used with her. Grateful for her intervention, Sephiroth allowed himself to relax and let Aeris work on his hair without complaint.

Normally in the past when he had wrestled with his long mane, he usually never made any real effort to be particularly careful about how hard he pulled the brushing implement through his hair, preferring to get the task over with quickly. Aeris's gentle touch when working on his hair was a new experience to Sephiroth and he found that he enjoyed it very much. During the time Aeris was working on his hair he had dropped into a light doze. When Aeris noticed the effect her combing had on Sephiroth she decided to take advantage of the situation and indulge in something she had wanted to do for a long time. She slowly put down the rough, wood comb she had been using and resumed combing his hair with her fingers alone. She had already worked out the nastiest knots with the comb by the time she replaced it with her fingers, so she had no trouble with getting the last of them out. Sephiroth didn't seem to notice the change.

But alas, all good things must come to an end and eventually Aeris pulled her hands away with equal regret that Sephiroth had shown when he finished with her hair. Snapping out of his light stupor, Sephiroth instantly felt the loss of contact from Aeris who had recently been so close to him. His backside felt suddenly cold without Aeris's body being right behind him.

"Oh look, the rain is gone," Aeris pointed out.

Slowly Sephiroth uncurled his long limbs from his reclining position and rose to his feet. Taking Aeris's unvoiced suggestion walked out of the cave, Aeris at his heels. The air had that just rained scent in it and everything looked so fresh. A light wispy cloud cover that was all that was left of the storm stretched across the sky, shafts of late afternoon sunlight already piercing through it. It felt like the whole world was holding its breath as Sephiroth stood there with Aeris by his side, waiting for he didn't know what to happen. Then the clouds abruptly parted unveiling the sun as it poured its light across the whole valley, a brilliant rainbow spreading from one end of the valley to the other.

Again another part of her dream a few days ago came back to Aeris. It seemed like all the events of her dream were replaying themselves in the waking world. Much of her dream had come back to Aeris but its elusive end she still couldn't recall. For almost a month now Aeris dreams had been portraying what was in store for her in the future. While they had started off with terror and destruction, seeming more like bad nightmares than real premonitions, they gradually took on a more mournful feeling, like the participants of her dreams were lamenting for the roles they played in the scenes of devastation. When she entered the valley, her dreams changed yet again and the omens of destruction stopped together. Instead they showed Aeris glimpses of a possible future in the valley with Sephiroth by her side. She wasn't sure whether she should be relieved or worried at this change.

"Another lovely day come and gone, makes me wish that we could stay here forever," Aeris murmured.

Sephiroth silently agreed with her. Right now he wanted to do nothing more than that; stay in this valley with Aeris forever. They stayed there watching the sun slowly sink and eventually set, casting vibrant reds, oranges, and pinks on the last of the lingering clouds before they too faded until the stars started coming out.

* * *

"Nikki get back here!"

"Don't make me come after you young lady!" Aeris yelled chasing after her four year old daughter.

"But mommy why do I have to help you grub around in the garden when I can be out in the forest playing and enjoying my childhood?" Nikki yelled back at her mother as she was pumping her little legs as fast as she could to get away.

"Nikki!" Aeris shouted after the little delinquent.

Although she had to admit that her daughter's logic made sense. The garden really didn't need to be worked on very much since no weeds ever grew in it, but her wild daughter had to start taking on some responsibilities, or she would grow up to be a spoiled brat. But Nikki never really listened to Aeris much anyway, she was her daddy's little girl and could only be brought in line by him. It bothered her to no end that she had so little control over her firstborn, a fact that Sephiroth constantly found joy in reminding her of. _But just wait till she gets into her teen years, I wish him luck with a moody, hormone driven teenager,_ Aeris perversely thought,_ I will gleefully allow him the joy of dealing with her then_.

It was at that exact moment that Sephiroth decided to come onto the scene, a roped bundle of fallen branches slung over his shoulder. His shrieking daughter collided with his strong legs at full speed knocking her to the ground. Quickly dropping his burden, Sephiroth swept his pouting daughter up into his arms and proceeded to sling her over his shoulder in the same position the branches had been. Stooping to retrieve his bundle, Sephiroth calmly crossed the area between him and Aeris, his daughter madly giggling the whole time. He planted a quick peck on her forehead, before moving on to deposit his burdens in the cave.

"So how did Michael's lessons in forestry go today Sephiroth?" Aeris inquired about their two and a half year old son who was currently sleeping in the carrier that Sephiroth had made which was strapped to his back.

"Oh we had a great time, he learned all about the creatures that live in under logs and learned a lesson in not messing with fire ants," Sephiroth informed her with a smile on his face.

"Oh my poor baby, Sephiroth how could you let our son get stung by those insects?" Aeris lectured him.

"Calm down, he only got bitten once, and it didn't even leave a mark. Besides, he got over it a few minutes later when he saw his favorite type of berry bush heavily laden with its fruits," Sephiroth cheekily replied.

"Honestly, I swear that our daughter gets her attitude from you! You really should be more careful with Michael, he's only two for Gaia's sake," Aeris retorted.

"And you coddle him too much, it's good for him to learn things the hard way sometimes or he'll get too soft. You got to let our son breath a little Aeris or else-" whatever else Sephiroth would have said was cut off as Aeris swiftly reached up and yanked on his bangs, bringing his face down to her level.

Sephiroth let out an unmasculine yip at Aeris's harsh treatment of his hair, but it was swiftly cut off as Aeris sealed his mouth in a searing, passionate kiss. Not one to refuse such an offer Sephiroth returned the kiss with even more force. As their tongues started battling for supremacy in each other's mouths, Nikki had the unfortunate timing to come out of the cave and saw her parents lip locked.

"Ewww, stop trying to suck each other's faces off Mommy and Daddy! That's gross!" the four old yelled in the typical childish reaction of catching her parents being intimate.

Unfortunately for both Sephiroth and Aeris not only did it break the growing heat between the two, but it also woke up their napping son.

"Nikki how many times have I told you not to interrupt Mommy and Daddy when we're having a private moment like this," Sephiroth sternly lectured his daughter.

"But you weren't alone, Michael was on your back the whole time, so you were breaking the rules Daddy!" Nikki smartly replied.

Now fully awake, Michael felt that he was being left out, so he decided to pipe up.

"Dadda, Momma is back! When did you get back Momma?" Michael happily chirped.

"Stupid! You and Daddy were the ones that just got back. Me and Mommy have been here the whole time since she wouldn't let me go off play in the forest," Nikki snapped at her younger brother.

"Momma, Nikki's being mean to me!" Michael wailed.

"Nikki, you know better than to call your brother stupid," Aeris chided her daughter, "plus you spent all mourning playing in the forest, you just said that because you didn't want to do your chores."

"Humph" Nikki grunted, crossing her arms defiantly, trying to imitate her dad.

Aeris burst out into laughter.

"What's so funny Mommy!" Nikki angrily demanded, not being laughed at.

"You looked so much like your stubborn father right then, I couldn't contain myself. You really should stop imitating his bad habits, it's turning you into a rude little girl," Aeris told her, trying to overcome her mirth.

"You're being a big meanie Mommy!" Nikki yelled at Aeris, echoing her brother's words he had originally directed at her.

At that statement his daughter just spouted off, it was Sephiroth's turn to break out laughing. Upon hearing that cherished sound coming from him, Aeris's heart practically stopped beating. It didn't matter how many times she heard her husband's rich, deep baritone laugh, she always melted into a pile of goo every time it happened and she fell in love with him all over again. If someone asked what her favorite thing about Sephiroth was, she would automatically respond, "his laugh".

Seeing the pout on Nikki's face as she resumed her "badass Sephiroth pose" Aeris found herself joining in on her beloved's wonderful laughter.

* * *

"What the hell was that!" Aeris exclaimed as she woke with a start.

* * *

Sorry to disappoint you folks, but the evil cliffy has returned! You're just gonna have to wait to find out what happens in Ch.9.

Some of you may have already noticed, but I've starting sending replies to your email accounts for your reviews, and starting now I won't be doing reviewer replies anymore after each chapter. I only learned that had banned that after I had submitted Ch.7.

Hard to believe that there are only two chapter left till the fic is over. I must say that it has been a learning experience for me and I must admit that my writing has greatly gotten better since I started this story. Man time has gone by so fast since I started this fic last September.

Hope that this update came quickly enough for you folks! I wrote all this in two days! Between homework, assigned readings, and studying for my biology test on Tuesday it's a miracle that I finished it this fast.

Long author's note, I know. But I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter as much as I did the last. Who knows, I might post Ch.9 this month. Within a week if I get proper motivation… (HINT HINT: leave a review).


	9. Paradise Lost

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or any of its characters.

Ch.9- Paradise Lost

Two weeks had passed and Aeris still was haunted by fragments of that confusing dream she had had. Two long weeks where she sat and stewed over the many conflicting emotions any thought related to the dream or her silver-haired companion brought up.

Matching her frazzled emotions and confused heart, was the sheer unpredictability of the rainy season weather. Sunny one minute, pouring rain the next, the weather was susceptible to change at a moment's notice, much to the annoyance of Sephiroth and even Aeris after a while.

While at first Aeris could fairly easily predict when the storms would come, as they approached the wettest weeks, it became and harder for her to be able to give warning to seek shelter before the skies opened up and let loose with torrents of water.

Sephiroth predictably enough was never pleased to be caught out in a sudden downpour that usually vanished minutes afterwards. His travels with Aeris had done much to mellow out his sharp temper, but as he found himself stalking back to the cave behind the waterfall soaking wet more often than dry, it returned with a vengeance. So short was his fuse the last few days, it took hardly anything to set him off. On several occasions he had barely held himself back from lashing out at Aeris for some innocent comment she had made. He was acting surly and snappish and he knew that he was behaving childishly, but the enforced inactivity of being stranded in the valley was eating away at his patience more now than ever.

It didn't help subdue his easily irritable temper due to the fact that every time he glanced over at Aeris, he suddenly felt strange and unwelcome emotions rise up. Every time that happened, he savagely squashed them down, but it was becoming increasingly harder and harder to ignore them. Her frank honesty about all things with him and how easily she expressed her feelings, good and bad, was what had initially drawn his attention, but now her unwavering belief in that there was something redeemable in every person combined with her rather overt actions to teach him how to find enjoyment in the simplest actions was gnawing away at his steadfast conviction to not get emotionally involved with Aeris.

Aeris to her credit was taking in his frequent foul moods without complaint and she never responded to his baiting so that he could have a chance to get into a fight with her. She was resolute in her decision to try to avoid conflict with Sephiroth for as long as she was with him and was holding true to it. Every time he came storming back to their mutual shelter under the waterfall in a black mood that matched the weather, she was somehow able to soothe his irate temper and get him to calm down. But as much as her presence seemed to be a balm to his raw nerves, the fact that the stormy weather outside hardly put a damper on her natural enthusiasm always annoyed him to a small degree. But then again, that natural enthusiasm was one of the things about her that was making him more attached to the cheerful herbalist.

He was pretty sure he knew what was going on, but he refused to even acknowledge its existence. He wasn't stupid, even someone as emotionally undereducated and stunted as himself could see what was going on in with these alien emotions that were swirling around in him. He wasn't totally ignorant of the workings of the human heart. He had picked up some trashy romance novel at one point of his life out of sheer boredom and a faint curiosity to find out why humans chased this sensation so much. At that time he had concluded that love was a complete waste of time and that humans were even stupider than he had previously thought of them for wanting to possess such a useless and contradictory thing.

He knew that there was no way on Earth that he could be subject to such illogical and stupid things that humans were to, like love. He was the son of Jenova after all and was above such petty human emotions. But now, he wasn't so sure about that earlier conclusion. What was puzzling him was why he was experiencing human emotions, since he technically was a member of his mother's race and most definitely not human. Wasn't he?

_But I never knew my father_ Sephiroth though, _do I even have one? Is it possible for me _not_ to have one? I don't even know how one of my mother's species reproduces. If I am a full member of her species, why do I have an incredibly human like form? Am I some kind of twisted half-breed between my mother's species and some other like the Cetra? Surely Jenova would never condescend to mate with a human! But that doesn't answer the question of who my other parent was. What am I?_

Totally unaware of the disturbing thoughts that were going through Sephiroth's head, Aeris was happily humming away while brushing a few stray tangles out of her hair. Eventually she did sense that something was amiss. Looking over at her contemplating companion she decided that his hair looked rather messy. Rather than trying to get his permission, Aeris happily plunked herself next to Sephiroth and without preamble started working on his tangled locks.

"What are you doing Aeris?" Sephiroth warily asked.

"Brushing your hair," she absentmindedly answered.

His eyebrow very slightly twitched.

"That is obvious Aeris, but why are you doing so?" he asked again.

"Because it is a mess," she chirped.

"What gave you the notion that I would allow you to comb my hair?" he questioned, surprised that he wasn't as annoyed by her actions as he thought he would be.

"You're allowing me to do it now."

"And why do you think that I will not make you stop?"

"Since you secretly enjoy it and you turn into a puddle of goo every time I do."

"I do not take pleasure out of grooming Aeris. And I most certainly do not melt every time you do."

"Oh? Then care to tell me why we're now sitting down with your back practically leaning into my face when we started standing up?"

Sephiroth blinked. He was sitting down and even worse his body seemed to be leaning into her every stroke. The same unwanted emotions that had been plaguing him for the last two weeks suddenly decided that now was the time to rear their ugly head again. Why was it that every time he got close to her his heart annoyingly speed up and seemed to be trying to lodge itself in his throat?

"Stop scowling Sephiroth, it will only make your face sore," Aeris told him.

"I wasn't scowling, merely thinking before you rudely interrupted," he responded, no longer scowling.

"Sure you weren't," Aeris stated, rolling her eyes, "now could you please lay down on your stomach so I can get to the hair that you are sitting on?"

He huffed, but did as he was asked.

"Such a nuisance," Sephiroth commented totally unprepared for Aeris's response.

"Don't you dare even think about cutting it off!" she defensively yelled.

"Wha?" was his intelligent reply.

"Don't you dare cut off your hair," she clarified.

"Why would I do that?" he asked puzzled.

"Because you though it was an annoyance…" Aeris sheepishly trailed off.

"Just because something doesn't serve a functional purpose doesn't mean that I get rid of it," Sephiroth explained.

"Oh" was her response.

Aeris suddenly remembered what she was doing with Sephiroth and why he was currently laying topless on his stomach beneath her. Aeris blushed and hurriedly resumed combing.

"Though my hair can be an annoyance at times it really doesn't make me want to cut it off. I rather like the effect it has on my enemies when they first see me," Sephiroth continued.

"Ha! I knew it!" Aeris exclaimed, "you really are a big show-off!"

"I'm no worse than you," Sephiroth lightly replied, "your hair is just as long as mine if not longer and you always take great care to keep it in top condition. Sounds like I'm not the only one who is vainly proud of their hair around here."

By now the comb was smoothly running through Sephiroth's silver hair without any snags. Aeris seeing that Sephiroth was slightly relaxed from her ministrations decided to take advantage of his current position and work on totally loosening him up. She was determined that by the time she was done with Sephiroth that he would not even be able to get up.

* * *

For the next three hours odd noises could be heard emerging from the cave behind the waterfall. The occasional "ooh" and "yeah right there" filtered past the noise generated from the waterfall interspersed with occasional grunts, groans, and one very loud and deep moan. There were even a few yelps and exclamations of "ouch" or "yeow" to give the symphony of noises some diversity. If one listened really hard, they might have heard one of the cave's occupants say "that's a real hard spot, I'll have to work it extra good".

* * *

Sephiroth woke up the next day feeling more relaxed and well rested than he had in the last two weeks. Last night's little exercise with a very exuberant and feisty Aeris had worked out all of the stiffness that his muscles had been developing from all the frustration caused by the bad weather and lack of grueling exercise. For all that she had done to him, Sephiroth had made sure that he returned the favor with even more vigor than he normally would have. Needless to say both Aeris and Sephiroth fell asleep last night thoroughly wiped out and loosened up. 

Standing up and stretching out his arms and legs, Sephiroth felt more limber than he had been for months. It certainly was a good feeling to wake up to in the morning. _We should really do this more often_ Sephiroth mentally noted. Poking his lightly slumbering companion with his foot, Sephiroth looked out past the waterfall and was pleased to find that there was no sign of rain, not that that meant much during this time of the year. Hopefully today he could actually do something productive rather than having to flee towards the nearest cover when it started raining.

"What's got you so eager today?" Aeris's sleepy voice drifted out of the cave.

"Other than last night's activities? Just a feeling that a welcome change is in the air," was Sephiroth's offhand reply.

"You must be getting better at feeling the natural flows of the planet and understanding what each shift means," Aeris commented.

"Stop being all elusive and mysterious Aeris, if you know something, just tell me. Don't keep dropping vague hints and expect me to know what they mean," Sephiroth admonished her lightly.

"Pfft, you cut me off before I got to explain what I meant Seph," Aeris rebuked him, giggling at the grimace that came to his face at the mention of his seldom used nick name.

"Well, I'm sure that what I'm about to tell you will bring a smile to your dour face," Aeris continued sticking her tongue out at him, "it should please you to know that the summer rainy season is almost over and the rains should stop within a few days. The season will go out in much the same manner in which it came in, with occasional hour-long showers in the afternoon."

While Sephiroth's face certainly didn't break out into a huge smile, Aeris could tell that the good news was well appreciated by him by how all the last of the tension that she hadn't worked out of him last night suddenly drained away. _Well at least I worked him over really good last night,_ Aeris inwardly chuckled_, although he was able to get up afterwards, albeit with very shaky arms and legs._

Sephiroth found that upon hearing her news that he was very much anticipating the lack of rain after the next few days. It was a novel experience for Sephiroth to actually be looking forward to something other than his life-long goal to obliterate humanity. Not that he was really spending much effort on trying to keep himself motivated towards that self-appointed task. Rainy season aside, he could easily find himself wanting to spend the rest of his life in this secluded valley deep in the vast Central Mountain Range of the southern continent. Whether it was stupid luck or the planet's guidance that had brought them to this place, Sephiroth didn't care, he just was glad that he was here.

A loud growl interrupted Sephiroth's thoughts. Apparently his stomach had decided that it was tired of waiting for Sephiroth to notice his hunger and had made its complaints very clear.

"Guess it's time for breakfast," Aeris cheekily remarked.

"Lovely, more fruits and berries for breakfast," Sephiroth sarcastically said.

"So where off to?" Aeris good naturedly enquired.

Instead of answering, Sephiroth simply strode out of the cave and into the early morning light spilling across the lakeshore. Aeris not perturbed by his actions in the slightest, went after him with a bounce in her step.

They wandered aimlessly around in the forest for a while before Sephiroth found a tree laden with Aeris's favorite fruit that could be found in the valley. With an ill-disguised shriek Aeris threw herself at the dark red pear-shaped fruits and started greedily devouring them. Sephiroth not really in the mood for fruit _again_, so he went off in search of other things for his breakfast. Aeris was contentedly chewing on a rather succulent morsel of fruit when Sephiroth came back with a good amount of hard-shelled nuts and edible mushrooms.

He used a sturdy rock he found nearby to crack open the shells of the nuts, exposing the slightly bitter flesh of the seed itself inside. Although it took him twice as long to complete his breakfast as Aeris did, after his pile of nuts and mushrooms had been consumed, he was quite satisfied.

"I want to see what is in that meadow at the eastern edge of the valley today, you know that one with the huge tree right in the middle of it surrounded by grass and flowers for quite a distance on every side," Aeris piped up once she saw Sephiroth brush off the remnants of his breakfast from his black pants.

"Did the thought that it will take almost the entire day to get there ever cross your mind?" Sephiroth asked.

"I don't care, I've wanted to go to that place ever since I climbed that tree and saw it from across the valley," Aeris peevishly responded.

"Oh you mean that time where I had to climb up to get you when your hair got thoroughly tangled in that tree's branches?" Sephiroth pointed out.

"Yes that time," Aeris growled, "but that doesn't change the fact that we're going there today."

"So you don't mind walking through the afternoon showers for several hours and possibly catch a cold just to satisfy your curiosity," Sephiroth drawled.

"Nope," Aeris quipped.

"Doesn't matter, we're not going," Sephiroth told her with an air of finality.

* * *

It was raining when Sephiroth found himself hours later trudging along the forest floor after the eagerly exploring Cetra. True to her prediction, right at the start of the afternoon Aeris spotted the storm clouds building up and thirty minutes later sure enough it was raining. Contrary to what Sephiroth was currently feeling at the moment, Aeris was thoroughly enjoying herself as she practically skipped ahead forcing Sephiroth to pick up his pace to keep up with her. He still couldn't believe that he had been roped into this childish expedition by Aeris. To be fair, Sephiroth was faintly curious about the place too and he couldn't come up with any better ideas with what to do during the daylight hours. It really didn't take all that much convincing to get him to go after all and plus he didn't want to let Aeris wander about alone. 

It had been raining for almost an hour now and Sephiroth was growing rather agitated, the good mood of the morning long since dispelled. Even though the worst and most intense part of the rainy season was over, it seemed like the weather wanted him to experience the joys of walking around sopping wet for as long as it could. He really couldn't wait until the last clouds of the monsoon season disappeared entirely.

As Sephiroth stewed in his wet misery, Aeris while not particularly pleased that she was totally waterlogged she did find herself enjoying Sephiroth's slight discomfort even though it made her feel slightly guilty about it. He had certainly caused her enough discomfort and anxiety for the longest time that she felt that he deserved to be slightly miserable once in a while. For one it was good medicine for his over inflated ego, it kept him down to a reasonable level of being tolerably arrogant.

Aeris felt herself swamped suddenly with those strange, foreign emotions that she had been experiencing for more than two weeks now. While she had been trying to analyze her own confusing and uncertain emotions, the ones she felt during moments such as these seemed not to be her own. Despite the fact that the same indescribable ache and longing were the same as hers, the feelings of scorn, indecisiveness, and warring interests undoubtedly were not. Looking over her shoulder Aeris found that, just as she had expected, Sephiroth had been staring at her again.

He had been doing that for awhile now and although at first she barely felt anything coming from him, as the days went by, the foreign emotions that she was hit with every time he started looking at her for more than thirty seconds became more intense each consecutive time. Aeris had no idea where these sensations were coming from, but if she didn't know any better she would have swore that they were coming from Sephiroth himself, as unlikely as that sounded.

She was really starting to get fed up with these strange emotions that bombarded her at unpredictable times and was in the mind to give the sender of said emotions a taste of their own medicine. The problem was that she had no idea how to do that. Finally Aeris decided to try bringing the similar emotions that were brewing within her to the surface and concentrate on making them as intense as possible before bundling them all up and thrusting them at the invisible sender of the foreign ones she was experiencing.

Sephiroth was silently brooding over the strong sensations that were coming from the depths of his subconscious, trying to decipher exactly what they were when he was unexpectedly flooded a whole new set of them that had a strangely familiar feel to them. His experience with talking with Jenova through the years made him instantly aware that these new added on emotions to his own came from an outside source. They were not his own, but where were they coming from? They certainly weren't coming from Jenova, they didn't feel at all like her emotions. Other than his mother, who else had the mental capacity to be able to initiate a mental link with him?

Who did he know that had such feelings of heartache and yearning that were so like his own but also had undertones of admiration, guilt, hesitation and even hope? What could make someone experience all these different and conflicting emotions all at once? Sephiroth had no idea. But one thing he did know was that this bundle of emotions was disturbingly similar to his own jumbled mess.

The time where that huge consciousness had invaded his mind back when he was carrying the recovering Aeris through the pitch black cavern in the heart of the mountain flashed into Sephiroth's mind. Did that overwhelming presence that had stopped him from acting thoughtlessly towards the weakened Cetra leave some kind of residue or after effects that could possibly link that incident to this present one? What effects did it have on Aeris and was she experiencing similar effects as he was currently was?

Startled by that last thought, Sephiroth's head whipped up and his gaze tore over to Aeris who was staring at him with open disbelief. Looking into each other's eyes and seeing the exact same shocked look mirrored in the other's gaze, the same thought flashed across each of their minds. As comprehension dawned on them of exactly what that thought meant, two sets of green eyes simultaneously widened.

"Oh no," Aeris moaned.

"Shit" was Sephiroth's contribution.

After several moments of staring at each other in silence, processing the implications of this new and unwelcome development, Sephiroth found himself more puzzled than anything about how this had happened. It surprised him that he wasn't furious about their new connection, he felt more like he was a detached observer in the drama that was currently unfolding. Aeris he noted was currently trembling like a leaf in the wind, but what emotion was causing such a reaction in her he couldn't decipher. The emotions he was feeling from her were too muddled and mixed up for him to identify any individual one.

Aeris felt severely shaken. To know that Sephiroth was experiencing similar emotions to her own was not a very comforting revelation. While other people might be overjoyed to know that the object of their attention returned their feelings, Aeris didn't. She had a suspicion of what these feelings were and that frightened her. But her fear didn't last long, a spark of anger was lit in her and it soon grew into a blazing fury.

"Sephiroth, what the hell did you do?" she screamed, surprising him not only in her ferocity but also in her uncharacteristic use of foul language.

Sephiroth was flabbergasted with this turn of events. _What on earth could have lit her fuse like that?_ he thought.

After hearing no response to her question she went on, "how dare you mess with my feelings like that. Do you have no sense of personal privacy! By Gaia, you're such an idiot! What were you hoping to accomplish by invading my innermost thoughts! Insensitive prick! What good could possibly come out of this!"

After she finished her tirade, Aeris stormed off into a denser part of the forest. Sephiroth, predictably enough, had not been prepared for the intensity of her outburst. He stood there wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open slightly for several minutes before he realized that he ought to go after the enraged Cetra. Her trail was not hard to follow seeing as she had rushed off without any care of where she was going and hadn't paid any particular attention to her surroundings as she crashed through the underbrush.

Aeris's mad, stomping footfalls soon turned into a blind rush as her anger diminished as quickly as it grew and a sense of apprehension and anxiety replaced it. _Oh planet, why is this happening to me? What are these unnatural things I am feeling for Sephiroth? Oh planet, I feel like I am betraying you with this attraction I am feeling towards the son of your nemesis, _Aeris told the planet as she was desperately trying to sort her thoughts. :Let go of your doubts and follow your heart beloved child, all I want is for you to be happy: was Gaia's response.

"My happiness won't matter if I cause so many to suffer," Aeris muttered, not really paying attention to what she just said.

* * *

Somehow, despite her seemly easy to follow trail, Sephiroth had lost track of all physical traces of where she had run off to. They only thing that was keeping him from losing track of her altogether was the emotions that continued to filter through their newly discovered mental link. He was relieved when he felt the worst of her anger subside, but grew worried again when panic and self-revulsion replaced it. Their bond, he had discovered, only let strongly felt emotions through the link. He had no idea what she was thinking as her emotions kept on trickling through their connection. 

The situation he was in now was akin to the blind leading the blind. Aeris was blindly rushing through the forest without heed to her destination and he was blindly following her based off the vague feeling of where turbulent storm of emotions was traveling.

As the sixth branch to whip him in the face hit him, Sephiroth unexpectedly faltered. A strange sense of dizziness suddenly assaulted him, affecting his mind but not his body. His thoughts, jumbled and disordered like a drunkard's, were making him lose contact with his physical self while his body kept on moving forward as if on autopilot. Unexpectedly, he was hit with a raving thirst, so great was it that it overrode all other functions and seized control of his mind.

The sound of running water became perceivable to his ears and with a fluidity that showed nothing of his inner turmoil, he moved in the direction of the now all-important sound. Within moments he was crouched beside a rather large and shallow placidly running brook. He immediately plunged his head down into the water and took great gulping mouthfuls, oblivious to how animalistic he looked right then.

As suddenly as it hit him, his ravenous thirst vanished, leaving him gasping with its withdrawal. But with the disappearance of his thirst, a new wave of emotions from Aeris, stronger than any of the previous ones he had experienced. In his head he heard a barely detectable melodious humming, one he realized he had unconsciously felt ever since he had arrived in this valley.

Looking down into the area of water he had cast his shadow over he noticed something hauntingly familiar. Barely visible in the darkness his shadow provided on the water, there were very faint wisps of a green liquid flowing with the water. Lifestream. _What does this mean?_ Sephiroth thought, alarmed. In the cavern that they had emerged from into the valley, the subterranean stream that he had been following had the exact same type of lifestream-filled water as this one did. How had the fact slipped his mind that the entire water system of the valley was almost saturated with the very essence of life itself? Both he and Aeris had been drinking this water for weeks, could this be the explanation for the many unexplainable things that had happened to the pair ever since they had come here?

First he had lost his powers of flight and teleportation, and then there was the almost unnatural pervading atmosphere of the valley that dampened his anger and made his heart and soul so content. Ever since the cave-in almost a month ago, he had not even detected the smallest hint of Jenova's presence, her words had been absent from his thoughts for even longer. To top it off was this seemingly impossible mental link that had mysteriously developed between him and Aeris. Add in the odd dreams he and Aeris had been having (neither had told the other that they were having these dreams, but both knew that the other was experiencing them) and this sudden attack he had moments ago, it became apparent that some outside force had been meddling with them for quite some time. It was rather apparent who or what had been doing this to them to Sephiroth in light of his discovery.

It was rather urgent now that he find Aeris and explain all this to her before the situation got worse and the misunderstanding between them grew bigger. It suddenly dawned on him, much to his dismay, that he was not only receiving Aeris's emotions better but he could almost visualize the bond between them as a band of faintly glowing, translucent light and thoughts. That meant only one thing; his abrupt consumption of all that lifestream-saturated water had strengthened the connection between them that it had been when originally established.

He had no trouble now in following the route she had taken through the forest. But instead of footprints or disrupted vegetation, he followed the path Aeris's emotions were traveling to him over the link. _But why did I even have that attack in the first place? What triggered it?_ Sephiroth thought as he ran through the forest. While his discovery about the nature of the water in the valley explained much, it did nothing to help him understand what the attack was or why it had happened. He didn't even have a faint suspicion to work off of about the meaning of the event.

Sephiroth came to an abrupt halt when the cool shade of the forest suddenly vanished and the liquid warmth of the late afternoon sunlight spilling over the open meadow hit his skin. There in the middle of the large meadow was a huge two thousand foot tree that towered over all the other trees in the entire valley. Sitting at its base, was the slumbering figure of an emotionally exhausted Aeris. The bright, vibrant green of the grasses and vivacious colors of the numerous wildflowers contrasted starkly with the darker green shade cast on the forest floor by the tree canopy. While the air was just as fresh under the trees as it was in the meadow, it was much sweeter due to the abundance of blooming wildflowers.

_By the planet, every place in this valley calls to my soul. I really don't ever want to leave this paradise seemingly made for beings such as me and Aeris,_ Sephiroth bemusedly thought as he took in the entirety of the scene in front of him.

Sephiroth silently waded his way across the knee-deep grass of the meadow, unconsciously avoiding trampling any of the blooming wildflowers as he quickly closed the distance between him and the giant tree Aeris was dozing under. Despite the slight puffiness around her closed eyes, a testimony to her earlier tears, she looked so content lying nestled between the roots of the mammoth. Everything she did here seemed so natural, so carefree. _She belongs here_ Sephiroth realized, _but do I?_

He sighed, as much as he wanted to clear things up between them, he couldn't bring himself to wake Aeris. She surely deserved the rest after all the confusion she had gone through. It really didn't matter at the precise moment to explain everything to her, he was content with being right here next to her. Sephiroth quietly settled himself down a few feet away from Aeris. Before he let the pervading peace of the valley lull him to sleep, he whispered to Aeris, "this all your fault you know" and then was silent.

Aeris cracked her eyes open slightly and with a small smile, responded, "no, it's ours." The sun soon sunk below the horizon not long after, staining the sky with brilliant reds, oranges, pinks and purples before it faded to black.

* * *

Moonlight blanketed the meadow, throwing the formerly bright and colorful landscape into shades of silver, grey and black. The buzz of insects traveling from flower to flower was replaced with the soft chirping of crickets and the odd lonely hoot of an owl in the forest. The previously calm and serene scene had been transformed by the fall of darkness and the full moon's silvery light into a place of silent magic and mysteries. Shadows skittered furtively just outside of one's field of vision while a slight wind gently stirred the grass, whispering of things unseen. The air was full of untold possibilities and the stars twinkled with wisdom of ages past. The branches high above shifted restlessly, the almost inaudible groans they produced drifted down to the two sleeping individuals cloaked by shadows underneath the mighty, ancient giant. 

The gentle murmurings of the planet roused the two slumbering people, the great visible contrast between the two hiding the similarities deep within. Two pairs of green eyes, one a deep emerald, the other sea green, opened simultaneously. An odd, enigmatic light danced in each of the orbs, reflecting the almost mystical atmosphere of the moonlight drenched meadow. In perfect synchronization they rose to their feet, the stars reflecting in their eyes. The tall, silver-haired man took the hand of the smaller, petite brunette and in a courtly bow kissed it gently.

Normally the entranced herbalist would have blushed madly at such an action, but tonight her suitor's action provoked none, the full moon putting each in a surreal and dreamlike mood. She in return gracefully sunk into a deep curtsey, the frayed edges of her thin dress seeming like silken trim of a splendid gown. Both rose up to a full standing position, the moonlight washing out all of their features except for their different, yet alike green-toned eyes. The elegant warrior extended his hand to the healer and she placed her own in his.

His hand closed about hers and he led her out into the moonlight, the unearthly beauty gracefully following his lead. He drew her close and placed one hand on her shoulder, the other on her waist. She in turn put her arms on his, her hands gently grasping his elbows. Slowly they started rotating in a loose circle and soon they were twirling across the still meadow, their feet lightly moving from one position to another in a pattern that they only knew.

They danced under the full moon, listening to the music of the stars and heavens that they could only hear. Green tendrils glowed faintly in their wake as they moved. Graceful movements and intricate patterns emerged as they fluidly danced around the wide expanse of the field, sometimes moving so fast that all one could see was a blur of silver and black, other times so slowly that one would think that they weren't moving at all.

They continued their magical waltz without halting, the entire time gazing only into each others' eyes and noting else. The hours trickled by, and the moon rose to its zenith and started its downward track towards the eastern horizon. As the moon started disappearing below the horizon, the young couple drifted back towards the base of the behemoth tree that grew in the center of the field. By the time its silvery light had disappeared from the night sky, the nocturnal dancers had settled back down at the base of the giant and had fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep. The planet joyously hummed, the ritual binding the two was finally complete.

* * *

A fat drop of rain hit Aeris square on the tip of her nose, causing her to fly to her feet. Dark, heavy clouds above loomed low to the ground, about to release their cumbersome burden to the earth. Aeris not wanting to get wet just after she woke up poked her male companion in the side to rouse him. She didn't want to have to deal with a grumpy and unpleasant Sephiroth again. A faint look of annoyance crossed his face before his green-blue eyes snapped open, his whole body tense and alert to any danger. Another large, fat raindrop hit Aeris on her head, then another and another. Soon it was pouring and Aeris's hope to stay dry vanished like food in front of a starving person. 

"Well this is just lovely," Aeris muttered.

"You were the one who wanted to come out here in the first place," Sephiroth told her, "we could be all nice and dry, snuggled up in the cave back at the lake, but instead, we're sitting here under this huge tree that isn't doing much to keep us dry."

"Gah! What a mess everything is!" Aeris complained.

"We can sort out what happened yesterday later Aeris. Right now we need to find some shelter from the rain and get warmed up," Sephiroth rationalized.

"Fate must really hate me. Why else must I be stuck with such an unexciting grump, when it's pouring no less?" Aeris griped.

"I think that you got the better end of the deal, at least you're not stuck with an uncooperative, flighty Cetra that is hell-bent on making me miserable," Sephiroth retorted.

Aeris gave him an amused smile, "I knew that you weren't all ice and rock. That passionate heart that I've worked so hard to bring out is finally showing."

"You're delusional Aeris," Sephiroth grumbled.

"And you lack a sense of humor," Aeris replied.

"Are we going to stand here exchanging pleasantries under the rain or can we go look for shelter?" Sephiroth asked, exasperated.

Aeris blew him a raspberry.

Sephiroth groaned and shot an arm out to grab Aeris to drag her back to the forest. Anticipating his movements, Aeris jerked sideways evading his grasp, but her foot slipped in the mud and leaves and she fell back against the ancient trunk of the giant tree. A loud _crack!_ came from the wood and the part that Aeris had fallen onto broke, sending her tumbling backwards into the newly opened hollow behind it.

Sephiroth buried his face in his hand. _Only Aeris…_he thought.

"Hey Sephiroth! Come check this out!" Aeris called to him excitedly.

Not really wanting to have to put up with any more of Aeris's antics, Sephiroth begrudgingly followed the sound of her voice, the jolt of excitement he felt from her rapidly fading. He was not expecting to find what he saw inside the hollow in the tree. A small and cozy dirt-lined area was protected from the elements by a slight inclined passage that lead to the space where Aeris was standing in. The hollow was warm and provided enough room that both of them could stretch out their full lengths side-by-side.

Aeris seeing him just standing in the entranceway of the hollow, grabbed one of his hands that were loosely hanging at his sides and yanked him into the larger and more round part of the opening. Unfortunately while the room was wide enough for him to lie down, it wasn't tall enough for him to stand up fully, as he bumped his head on the roof the moment he entered the spot. Slightly cursing and rubbing his head he quickly sat down next to Aeris who had no problem standing in the wood-lined room.

A slightly admonished look crossed her face before she gently moved his hand away from the spot where he had hit his head. She placed her hand gently on the sore spot and the glowing green light that always came when she was using her healing powers outlined her hand. A familiar soothing and energizing feeling spread through him, but just as he was starting to enjoy it, it stopped. Aeris seeing the faint forlorn look on his face after she retracted her healing energy took pity on Sephiroth and decided to do something for him to make up for the lost sensation her healing provided.

Cracking her knuckles, she prepared herself for another strenuous bout of massaging to relax the withdrawn swordsman. Judging by the blank look on his face, Aeris figured that he had no idea about what she was planning to do. Her instructions were short and curt.

"Lay down. Be silent. Relax and enjoy."

* * *

The rain had finally stopped about an hour ago, but Aeris and Sephiroth were still lounging in the hollow inside the trunk of ancient tree. Neither of them really felt like moving, they were content to just sit there and enjoy the pleasant feeling of fatigue that came from a hard day's work that left one's muscles feeling like jelly. Several times one of them had tried to strike up a conversation, but each attempt failed seeing as they were feeling too lethargic to even participate in that low key activity. It also didn't help that neither of them had even come up with an intriguing enough topic to make it worth the effort to discuss. 

There was one topic that was constantly circulating through their heads that neither were willing to talk about though; how they were going to do deal with yesterday's events. Sephiroth didn't want to talk about it because he was afraid that any such conversation would reveal things that he didn't want to be brought to light. Aeris wanted to keep silent about the entire thing because the whole ordeal had left a sour taste in her mind. Sooner or later though, it had to come out. And the way that it did was in such a round-about way that neither of them had seen it coming.

"Last night sure was weird, but fun wasn't it?" Aeris blurted out of nowhere.

"There was something about the full moon that does strange things to people," he offhandedly commented.

"Never knew that you could dance so well," Aeris innocently remarked.

"I didn't know that either," Sephiroth returned, "who knew that a country girl like yourself could move with such poise and grace in a moonlit meadow?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but last night was so magical and you were such a gentleman. It was really sweet of you. I never pegged you to be a closet romantic," Aeris spoke wistfully.

"Last night was not normal by any means. I have no idea where either of us got the idea to spend almost the entire night dancing away under the moon and stars," Sephiroth thought out loud, "a foolish notion for sure."

"What's wrong with some harmless, if foolish, fun once in a while?" Aeris asked.

"I never had time for such flippancy before, nor did I ever wish to engage in such activities until recently," he responded.

"But now you don't mind doing such "foolish" things?" Aeris perceptively inquired.

"No I don't," Sephiroth admitted.

"But I am positive that outside forces were at work last night," he added.

"Yeah, I know. I felt the planet's presence all around us the entire time, but it was being very discrete about it," Aeris reflected.

Her statement struck a sour note with Sephiroth. It reluctantly reminded him about the necessary discussion that was bound to take place sooner or later. But now that Aeris had brought up the crux of the matter, however inadvertently, he figured it was now or never.

"Your planet has been doing much more than showing its presence to us last night," Sephiroth bitterly remarked.

Aeris instantly noticed the sudden change in the conversation.

"I know," she softly murmured, "it has been guiding our fates ever since we first met over five years ago. I realized that when I had calmed down after my flight from you to the meadow."

"Correction, it has been guiding and protecting **you**, not me. I don't think it cared what happened to me, after all it held me within the lifestream for five years after we both fell in while it released you only days afterwards," Sephiroth spitefully informed her.

"Well back then the thought of sparing me never crossed your mind," Aeris told him, defending the planet's actions, "it was only after I had fully matured that the planet started acting on your behalf."

"Since when has it ever helped me?" Sephiroth shot back.

"Well for one, after I rashly jumped overboard off the _Storm Rider_ after you and had dragged you to the surface, the planet guided **both** of us safely to the shores of the Ancient Isle after I passed out form lack of oxygen. It could have let you sink to the bottom of the ocean and only carried me to safety, but the planet didn't" Aeris retorted, "plus once in the Temple of the Ancients, it practically led me by the nose to where the keystone was. It also never did anything that could permanently separate us. I figure the only way that you arrived right when I needed you the most after I ran off was thanks to the planet. It must have been sublimely guiding you even back then."

"Oh I see, the planet only helped me to protect you," Sephiroth accused her.

Aeris was getting tired of his constant attacks on the planet's character. She saw that mere words wouldn't convince him that it truly cared about his wellbeing and cherished him as much as it did her for being one of its precious children. She had felt such sentiments from the planet before, but had refused to believe them until a few weeks ago. _That_ little revelation had not helped her jumbled and confused soul at all, it had only added to her heart's burden. It hadn't escaped her notice that her unexplainable connection with Sephiroth had gotten stronger yesterday. Because of that increase in strength, many new ideas had come to Aeris. She intended to test out one of them now.

Slowly she fully lowered her mental shields to the planet's voice and let its song fill her mind. Then she flung open the partly opened gates of their mental link and let the planet's music flow through it to Sephiroth. His whole body rocked when the planet's voice filled his mind, channeled through Aeris. He had no choice to accept Aeris's words for truth when faced with the undeceiving messages of the planet carried by the lifestream.

For the second time in his life, Sephiroth felt complete rapture. The first being when his mother's presence filled his mind for the first time. But it was different with the planet. There were so many different voices that combined into an unending melody that was an undercurrent to the pervasive song of the planet and nature itself. Filled with childlike wonder and awe, caressed by the flows of the planet's energies, Sephiroth felt like a babe safe and calm in its mother's womb. The soft feeling of being loved and cherished in a way he had never felt before blanketed his soul and dispelled any lingering doubts he had about his decision to abandon his lifelong goal of revenge and destruction.

He was cleansed of the hatred Jenova had fed his heart for all his life. Then the planet…, _No Gaia_ he corrected himself, revealed to him a most shocking thing, _the true story of his origin_.

* * *

_It was a cold, miserable winter night in the secluded town of Ruteford. Snow was piled in four foot drifts around the village's only tavern, The Red Torch. Boisterous sounds were coming from within the building, disturbing the people who had rented a room in the Inn above the barroom who were trying to get to sleep. There had been a big wedding that day between the blacksmith's daughter and the constable's son. Every inhabitant of the village had come to give their good wishes to the young, happy couple. They had all come since the wedding was a welcome respite from the long, cold winter snows that had prevailed for the last three months._

_Outback behind the tavern a door opened spilling light from the empty kitchen onto the snow covering the frozen mud of the area in front of the stables. A relatively tall and sturdy man with brown hair sprinkled with a little grey stumbled out the open doorway that was letting the cold from outside invade the hot kitchen. Someone inside yelled at him to shut the door, it wouldn't do to have them all freeze to death right after a big celebration. Yelling good-naturedly back at him the smashed drunk slammed the door shut before staggering off towards his cottage that was located in the dark forest behind the Red Torch._

_The man's name was Samuel Woodcutter and he provided the village with most of the lumber and fire wood it needed to survive the winter since coal was too expensive to afford. A rock caught his foot unexpectedly and arms flailing, he fell hard to the ground. The rock shot out from under his foot and caught him on the back of his left hand, leaving nasty gash. Blood poured from the minor wound sluggishly and soon altogether stopped. But it left a small red stain in the snow. Cursing at disobedient rocks in general, the soused woodcutter got back up and continued bumbling his way back home._

_A thin blue tendril scooped up the stain from the freshly fallen snow and brought it to the mouth of a creature that many would call a daemon or angel depending on the observer. The creature licked the small bit of blood-stained snow and absorbed the information contained within it. Scattered images from the man's past flashed in the creature's mind and a wicked smile curled at the corners of its mouth. –**How surprising that a pitiful human like this would possess such superior and extraordinary genes! This man's DNA has the strongest and most useful traits for my purpose that I have seen yet! Such a shame to let an opportunity like this to slip by,** -the alien female gleefully thought._

_Gliding a few inches over the snow that it so detested, Jenova followed the stumbling drunk back to his cottage, full of malicious intent. This night she would collect the necessary genetic material she needed to create a son that was capable of carrying out her plans. In her mind, she was granting this lowlife a huge honor. Being the father of the entity that would bring ruin to this backwater planet wasn't something any random male could brag about, not that he would survive to tell the tale. Besides she was doing him a favor, -**I'm doing him a service by allowing him to spend one last night with his deceased wife**- she cruelly chortled as her leathery wings shrunk into her back along with the tentacles that grew out of it. _

_Her limbs shortened and plumped out and her sickly blue skin turned into a healthy peachy pink. Her eyes grew wider and chocolate irises replaced grey ones. Curley shoulder length orange hair grew out of her head as her skull shifted into a human one. Freckles broke out over her dimpled cheeks and thin, almost non-existent lips grew plump and firm. The spitting image of Irya Mandaes, dead wife of Samuel Woodcutter set her long-fingered hand on the door latch and entered into the drunken embrace of the man who thought that his soul mate had returned to him. The door shut behind the deeply kissing couple, shutting out the world outside…

* * *

_

Aeris was staring at him with tears in her eyes and a look of horror on her face. Before he could react, she had enfolded him into a warm and supporting embrace, forestalling any movements to back away from her. Sephiroth was touched, but confused. _Why wouldn't she be repulsed by learning how I was conceived in violence and deception? How can she look past that and let her compassion comfort me?_ Sephiroth thought.

"Oh Sephiroth. How could your mother, no Jenova, do this to you?" Aeris sobbed onto his trench coat.

He was thinking the same thing. Why had she withheld the truth from him for all of his life? True, he had hardly ever actually seen Jenova during his wanderings as a child, she was always off preparing for the completion of his task, but he had actually loved her, as much as an emotionally stunted child like him could. She had led him to believe that he was the same as his mother and that he was above the humans. But to find out that she had been lying to him, misleading him, _using him_ for his entire life made all his preconceived notions and beliefs about himself and the world shatter. He had been running around all these years fulfilling Jenova's orders while he was a disgusting Halfling, a being even lower than his human father.

Nothing made any sense anymore. Why did she need a half-breed to fulfill her desires? Why not a full member of her race? Why couldn't she do her own dirty work instead of brining him into this miserable world? What meaning did his existence have now that his only propose in life was shattered? There was no point in continuing the charade that he called his life any longer. His future was now no longer a certainty and he had no idea what he should do with himself. He didn't even know who he was anymore.

"Spawn is truly an appropriate term to describe me," Sephiroth muttered, "better yet monster. How else should one describe a freak of nature such as myself?"

Aeris watched him sink further and further into his misery and self-loathing. The darkness of Jenova's lies and betrayal were pressing down on him, slowly suffocating his soul and erasing the spark of individuality and free-will that she had worked so hard to bring out. The misery he was experiencing now and as he had growing up was all Jenova's fault. She had to save him before he drowned beneath his despair and soul-suffering.

She panicked when she heard the ugly words he used to further degrade his worth. How fast was he sinking? She had to do something! Aeris wouldn't let him leave her after all had happened between them. She wasn't willing to let any hope for his happiness wither away without doing her best to help him.

"What point is in their in my continued existence? There is no future for me or my ilk," Sephiroth agonized.

Aeris reacted without thinking upon hearing those words. She slapped him, hard.

Sephiroth blinked as if coming out from under a spell. He shakily raised his right hand and placed his fingers upon his stinging cheek, a look of disbelief on his face. He never would have expected sweet and compassionate Aeris to strike him like that. _Even she is disgusted by my mere presence,_ he sorrowfully thought, _her actions only prove it._

"Sephiroth you idiot!" Aeris yelled, sobbing, "how could you think so badly of yourself? Why must you continue to torment yourself with ugly lies about your self-worth? Don't you know that I care for you! I can't…, WON'T let you drown yourself in your sorrow. You can't leave me after all this time!"

"After all we've been through together" she whispered, feeling her heart die just a bit.

Faced with Aeris's sudden admission and vehement statements, Sephiroth was finally forced to admit what he had been denying for so much time. He had seen the looks on her face when she snuck a glance at him when she thought that he wasn't looking. He knew what they meant and yet he denied the truth about them, further deluding himself about what was developing between them. He had felt the weak, ghostly emotions from her weeks before they had discovered where the foreign emotions they felt were coming from. How similar their feelings were to each other's, each set tinged by the emotions and energies that were uniquely their own.

There was no use in denying it anymore. Their relationship had gone far past that of simple companionship, past intimate friendship, far deeper than any other kind of bond between two people could be. Sephiroth was afraid of what would happen if he ever disclosed his feelings to Aeris, what would her reaction be? Would she distance herself from him, come to hate him for forcing something on her that she didn't want? Or would she welcome his feelings with open arms and a warm smile? Would she return his sentiments if he told her his own? Fate surely was vindictive by placing former enemies into such an awkward position.

Aeris felt the swirling mass of emotions coming from Sephiroth as she noticed the withdrawn look in his eyes. It could mean only one thing: that he had finally sorted out the feelings in his heart. Her own heart dropped at knowing what this meant. Her attempt to save him from himself had backfired horribly. Why couldn't they have continued on going about their daily lives without this coming out into the open? They could have been so happy spending time together in ignorance and bliss of how they felt about each other. What was worse, was that she reciprocated Sephiroth's sentiments.

_Oh heavens, no please no! I can't let myself feel this way about him. It would mean the end to everything if this ever comes out! Why, oh, why couldn't he have kept on hating me? Why does my treacherous heart yearn for him so? I don't know what the planet was thinking when it placed us in a position that this could happen. Doesn't it care about its own wellbeing?_ Aeris panicked thought. If only things had been different. If only they had been born as different people than they were. Oh how Aeris wished that the circumstances surrounding their fates were different.

Sephiroth felt his heart plummet when he saw the forlorn and hopeless look on Aeris's face. Such expressions didn't belong on the visage of such a pure-hearted person like Aeris. Emotions like that were hurtful and made her miserable. He couldn't stand to see such a look on the sweet angel's face that he had come to care for. Knowing of nothing else he could do to help her, he wrapped his arms around her shaking frame and enclosed her in a strong, comforting embrace.

Aeris stiffened as she felt Sephiroth hug her, but soon all the energy to resist him evaporated and she melted into his embrace. Crying weakly, she clung to him like a drowning sailor would to a piece of driftwood. Eventually the shudders caused by her tears dwindled to nothing and she looked up at him with a tear-stained face. Sephiroth tentatively tried to smile down at her, but he only managed a ghost of a smile. That was more than enough to lift Aeris's spirits and she gave him a weak, watery smile in return.

"We'll get through this somehow," he whispered to her, "I promise that I will never leave your side, even under duress."

"Lady Fate can shove her be-dammed prophecy," Aeris hissed violently, after she had recovered her equilibrium"for once in my life, I'm going to do what I want and not let some half-baked prediction drag me down. I'm tired of running, of lying to myself."

"Jenova can go to hell with lies and plans of genocide," Sephiroth vehemently declared, "I don't owe that demon anything, especially my loyalty after she used and lied to me so much."

_To hell with it_ flashed across the mental link from both sides as their lips crashed together and sealed in a searing and passionate kiss. The planet roared in joyous approval in both of their minds.

* * *

Sephiroth and Aeris lay sprawled across the dirt floor of the hollow in the ancient tree that they had yet to venture from, exhausted by their feverish bout of lovemaking. Sephiroth tingled from head to toe and Aeris's body spasmed periodically as echoes of her numerous and violent orgasms rocked her. Both Aeris and Sephiroth felt pleasantly sore after all that had happened in the last few hours, sleep now tugging at their minds. 

Aeris tiredly reached over to her discarded dress and ruefully examined it. While mostly still intact, it was in a sorry state. Every edge of the worn and thin previously thick winter dress, was tattered and ragged. Stains that would never come out were splattered all across it in varying shades of green, brown, and other colors Aeris didn't want to think about.

"It's a miracle that this thing is still intact and useable after all it has been through," Aeris ruefully commented, "it will be very difficult and time-consuming to make a replacement."

"Why even bother?" Sephiroth lazily asked.

"You went to the trouble of making that crude comb, I never heard you complain about it. Why shouldn't I be able to collect the materials in need to weave a crude cloth to use for a makeshift dress?" Aeris asked slightly annoyed.

"Because the comb was practical and useful, neither of us wanted to walk around with those rat's nests we called our hair for any longer. In this place, such a garment is next to useless and isn't practical at all. Nor is it desired," Sephiroth replied with a smirk.

"So I'm supposed to walk around naked when this dress finally gives up the ghost!" Aeris almost shrieked.

"I wouldn't mind," Sephiroth chuckled.

The Cetra's face lit up with offended anger. A furious look flashed across her face before she threw herself at him with a scream, intent of causing him major bodily harm.

Sephiroth easily caught her wrists as she attempted to use her nails on him and watched impassively (at least on the outside) as she struggled to escape his grip. He placed a quick peck on her nose which only increased her frenzied movements. Her writhing got wilder as her fury increased and her desire to get back at him grew. But no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free of his grip on her wrists.

Aeris snarled at him one last time before finally giving up, collapsing onto his bare chest. He cast an amused smirk down at the defeated herbalist who was still mumbling about how she would like to remove certain parts of his anatomy.

"Its not fair," Aeris pouted, "how am I ever supposed to get the upper hand when you're so strong?"

The look on her face as she sulked against him was too much for Sephiroth as he broke out into genuine, hearty laughter. For one second Aeris got mad at him for laughing at her before she realized that he was actually _laughing_. Her heart stopped for a moment as her dream came back to her. Sephiroth's laugh was exactly the same as it had been in her dream. Her heart starting racing, she felt like it was so loud that the entire world could hear it.

She practically melted as his laughter was absorbed into her bones. So rich and full of life, Aeris thought that it couldn't be any other way. _This_ was the part of Sephiroth she had been trying so hard to bring out and show off to the world. But now that she had accomplished her self-proclaimed mission, she was at a loss about what to do.

The words slipped out before she could stop herself, "I love you."

Sephiroth's laughter instantly stopped. A stressed look came onto his face for an instant before it was replaced with defeated acknowledgement. They both knew what Aeris's confession meant, and yet neither really cared all that much. Aeris could tell by the look in Sephiroth eyes that he felt the same way, no words were needed to express the emotion shown there, nor the feelings that were flowing back and forth between their connection.

Sephiroth knew what Aeris read from his gaze, but he felt the need to vocalize his emotions as well. It was only fair since she had told him hers.

"Aeris, I don't know how it happened, but as we traveled together looking for the perfect place to summon Meteor from, I found myself getting closer and closer to you. When I was rushing through the cave to find an exit so I could treat your fever, I realized just how strong of a spirit you had, how special you were. No ordinary human could have survived so long sick without food, water or warmth, but by your sheer willpower alone, you kept yourself alive until I reached that underground spring with the healing traces of lifestream in it. Before I knew it I had fallen deeply in love with you as we explored the wonders of this valley. Now that I know it, I wouldn't change anything about our relationship. I never want to hurt you ever, you've become too precious to me. Aeris, I love you with all my heart and soul," Sephiroth confessed to her.

"How ironic that my one-time would-be killer is now my beloved soul mate," Aeris wondered.

"Fate is a mean and spiteful bitch, but I have no intentions of ever letting it separate us," Sephiroth promised.

"It better not, or else it is in for a world of hurt," Aeris joked.

"You are so lovely when you are happy Aeris," Sephiroth told her.

Aeris blushed, but pulled him down into a breathless and demanding kiss. They had just sealed the fate of humanity and very possibly the doom of the planet, but at the moment, neither of them cared.

* * *

The planet's sudden wail of terror ripped through Sephiroth's and Aeris's light slumber. A feeling of dread and impending doom filled the valley. Aeris quickly got dressed while Sephiroth strapped Masamune in place (yes, he carries it with him _everywhere_). Both of them quickly rushed outside ready to confront whatever came, emerging from their place in the tree for almost two days. 

A black dot was traveling over the southern mountains at an alarmingly rate. As its outline gradually came into focus Sephiroth growled and Aeris bit off a scream. The figure of their worst nightmares was coming towards them and there was nothing the planet could do to stop its approach. An unnatural silence fell over the valley as the figure landed about a hundred feet away from the giant tree, the grass around its feet withering.

-Congratulations for getting what you needed from the Cetra to be able to complete our plans my son- Jenova's voice boomed in minds painfully.

"You have no right to call me that demon," Sephiroth snarled at the alien, "I have no mother."

-Oh? So the planet decided to tell you about your true heritage did it? How nice of it- Jenova spoke maliciously amused –well I hope you enjoyed yourselves in this green little valley, but it is time for us to depart with the Cetra so we can travel to the place where you two will summon Meteor and fulfill our lifelong dream of godhood.-

"Sephiroth has nothing to do with you or your plans of genocide!" Aeris yelled, "not after how you lied and abused his trust his whole life!"

-Remarkable how easily Sephiroth was able to make you fall in love with him. I never suspected he was such a lady charmer- Jenova gleefully drawled, her mind gouging painful tracts in Aeris's mind.

Aeris shrieked with the mental pain Jenova inflicted on her mind.

Sephiroth quickly moved to defend her from Jenova's attacks, placing himself in between Aeris and the Crisis from the Skies.

"Aeris you don't need to defend me to the likes of that monster," Sephiroth consoled her, "I have no intentions of playing her sick game any longer. We're not going anywhere. I won't allow her to take us from this place where you taught me the truth about the planet and myself. It deserves none of my loyalty and has no power over me anymore"

"That is where you are wrong **my son**," Jenova actually spoke for the first time, "while the planet was able to remove many of the abilities I granted you and significantly weakened my connection with you, there is nothing it can do to prevent me from re-establishing it fully. Now because of that mental link you share with the Cetra, I have access to her mind and powers as well. Such a foolish son you turned out to be. I knew that your human heart would probably make you betray me eventually, but I have long prepared for such an occurrence. Welcome to your destiny Sephiroth, it is inescapable."

Upon hearing Jenova's pronouncement, Sephiroth hastily threw up a mental shield around his and Aeris's minds, but it was in vain. Jenova's mind smashed his mind's barriers into dust and crashed into his and Aeris's minds. Her wicked laughter filled their thoughts before they blacked out.

* * *

Could the second to last chapter end with anything other than a big, evil cliffy? Muwhahahaha. If you want to find out how this all ends you are going to have to wait until the final update next month most likely (Although ten reviews might give me some incentive to finish it a bit earlier). 

It was a long chapter wasn't it? Took me quite a while to complete, it was the longest yet.

I've been dying to know what you readers think about my fic. What was your favorite/least favorite part? Did any thing about this fic particularly stick out to you? How well do you think I portrayed the characters? What do you think about the plot and how original do you think it is? Did you ever laugh when reading Children of Prophecy, if so what was your favorite humorous scene or bit? What other reactions did this fic elict from you? Anything you can tell me about this fic that made you think plus any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Let me know, I want to know what you think about everything having to do with Children of Prophecy!

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them, both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in.


	10. The Sorrow of the Planet

Children of Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or any of its characters.

Note: bring on the angst and have a box of tissues ready if you are the really emotional type.

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Ch.10- The Sorrow of the planet

_"Mommy help!" little Nikki shrieked as her foot caught a rock and sent her tumbling to the ground. Aeris, carrying a wailing Michael stopped suddenly as her daughter's sudden fall ripped Nikki's small hand out of hers. She difficultly stooped down and roughly hauled her daughter to her feet again before they set off again running for their lives to the dubious shelter of the cave behind the waterfall. _

_The day had started out innocently enough, her whole family setting off for a family trip out to the meadow with the gentle giant the previous day. They had all woken up with the first rays of sun in the hollow that she and Sephiroth had discovered over four years ago (which had been widened enough to comfortably fit the small family). As Nikki and Michael awoke, they took one look at their slumbering parents before they jumped on them giggling madly. _

_The next several minutes was spent with tickling their mischievous children unmercifully, their high pitched squeals filling the hollow and spilling out across the meadow. When the highly amused parents "accidentally" let their squirming children escape, Nikki and Michael took no time in rushing out of their sleeping place and into the emerald green meadow. _

_Watching their children scamper about in the emerald green grass, Aeris had let out a contented sigh as she had leaned back onto her love's strong chest. She was drifting back off into sleep when he playfully poked her, electing an unhappy grumble from Aeris. After a few more pokes from her relentless partner, Aeris crankily opened her eyes and glared at Sephiroth, amusement and mirth twinkling in his eyes. _

_"Time to get up love," he gently whispered into her ear._

_"Be quiet, pillows are supposed to stay still and not talk," she grumbled, snuggling back into a comfortable position against him._

_Sephiroth let out his rich, deep laughter that never failed to melt Aeris' heart. Aeris sighed, giving up the battle for sleep as she caught Sephiroth's contagious, good mood. They both quickly got up and left the shelter of the hollow in the ancient tree, breakfast and keeping their unruly children out of trouble on their minds._

_Sephiroth went after the kids while Aeris grabbed their now empty food bag and set off towards the forest to find something for her family to eat. She followed the helpful directions the planet sang to her and quickly found a small tree that was heavy with nuts and some berry laden bushes. When the large, hand woven grass bag that she carried was full of foodstuffs Aeris tapped into her mental link with her lover and the father of her children and set off in the direction of where his emotions were coming from. _

_As Aeris emerged from under the canopy of the forest, she saw Sephiroth rapidly approaching her, a kid slung under each arm. A sense of dread filled Aeris at the sight. She dropped the bag full of food, rushed over to them and took Michael from Sephiroth's hands. Frantic emotions were rolling off of Sephiroth in waves, swamping Aeris with their sheer intensity._

_"Take the children and get back to the cave as fast as you can Aeris," Sephiroth yelled as he rushed off back into the meadow, "I'll hold her off for as long as I can. Don't let her get the children no matter what!"_

_"Mommy, I'm scared! What's going on?" Nikki spoke, trembling._

_Aeris bent down and looked her daughter straight in the eyes, "Nichole, I need you to be strong. There is a bad monster coming that wants to ruin our lives. If I should fall I need you to be a big girl and protect Michael. If I tell you to, I want you to take him and go hide in your secret spot, keep quiet and don't come out until Gaia tells you that it is safe." _

_"Mommy, what are you saying? You and Daddy can protect us from everything! You can't leave!" Nikki stammered._

_"Oh how I wish we could darling. But if the time comes, you are to do as I said, no complaints. You and your little brother mean the world to me and Daddy. If anything should ever happen to the two of you, I don't know what we would do," Aeris spoke as she embraced her frightened children._

_"We don't have any more time to talk," Aeris commanded as she picked up Michael and grabbed Nikki's hand. _

_And so they ran, stopping only for a few moments of rest when Nikki's small legs got too fatigued. And then they ran again, the same process repeating itself every few hours. The whole time both of her children uttered not a sound, appreciating the direness of the situation. They were barely halfway back when Nikki had stumbled over the rock, bringing them back to the present. _

_Aeris could feel that the menace that had been chasing her and her children was almost upon them. Sephiroth had done what he could to give them enough time to get to safety, but it wasn't enough. It was now her turn to protect her children._

_"Nikki, take Michael and go," Aeris coldly commanded, her tone booking no argument. _

_Nikki silently nodded before taking Michael's chubby hand into her own and quickly leading him off in another direction towards the one place that the monster couldn't get them. _

_Aeris stood fully upright as she watched her precious children disappear into the underbrush, fervently praying that they would be safe. She steeled herself for the confrontation with the one being that could ever bring such disaster to her life with her family that she had gone through so much to attain. Aeris wanted to weep at the unfairness of it all. Why couldn't she live a peaceful and quiet life with Sephiroth raising their children? Why must fate always ruin thing for them when things were finally going their way? Why couldn't that **thing** just leave them alone? _

_Hadn't it done enough to ruin the life of the one she loved more than any other? Now it was coming to ruin her children's future as well. _

"_Never!" Aeris vowed, "I'll never let that vile creature get her hands on my children. She'll have to kill me first!"_

_-**I have every intention of doing so useless Cetra**- the voice of her nemesis rang in her mind._

"_Jenova!" Aeris hissed, flickers of her seldom used magic swirling around her as she prepared for battle. _

_-**The years you and my son have spent in this valley have made you soft Cetra. Sephiroth posed no challenge to me when he tried to stop me. Such a pity, he was such a strong son and then you came along and made him weak. I have no use for weaklings**- Jenova's voice boomed. _

_It was then Aeris noticed the object Jenova carried._

"_What did you do to Sephiroth!" Aeris shrieked as she felt her heart stop._

_-**He was the one who got in my way, and so he paid the price of defeat**- Jenova hissed with glee at seeing the torment she was putting Aeris through. _

_She threw the battered and broken body of Sephiroth at Aeris. He landed about ten feet away from Aeris and rolled a few times before coming to a stop. _

"_Sephiroth!" Aeris shrieked as she rushed to his side._

"_Are the kids safe?" he wheezed, struggling for breath._

"_Yes beloved" Aeris wept._

"_Good. I love you darling," he whispered before he shuddered once and then lay still. _

_Grief so fierce and sorrow so strong as she had never experienced ripped through Aeris' soul. A terrible, cold fury permeated her being, freezing her shattered heart. Aeris tenderly closed the sea green eyes that she loved so much that saw no more. _

"_God speed my love in your final journey. Rest easy in knowing that that monster will never lay hands on our children. I will not let your death and sacrifice be in vain. That bitch will pay for how she made you suffer so much. Even if I cease to exist in the process," Aeris vehemently spoke, her whole body shaking with hatred and rage towards the abomination from the skies._

_-**Oh? Vengeance you declare? How could such a weak being like you ever make me pay for my "crimes", Cetra? Not even your ancestors, the most powerful Cetras in history could dispose of me. What makes you think that a half-breed mistake such as yourself could do what your forefathers could not?** - Jenova scoffed._

_"Because I have experienced hardships like they never did. Being hunted by the humans for my entire life made my will strong and sharpened the skills of the Cetra in my blood that has been concentrated through the generations," Aeris spoke bitterly, "with my children safe and forever out of your grasp and Sephiroth dead, I have nothing left to live for. The planet has the next generation of Cetra to communicate with, so I'm no longer necessary. I gladly give up my life and very possibly my soul even to obliterate you from existence abomination."_

_-**Brave words from one who has no power**- Jenova sneered._

_"Freeze in hell bitch," Aeris snarled, as she felt the raw power that had been built up by every successive generation of Cetra that had come before her gathering round her._

_-**Bah! You can do nothing!**-_

_Aeris never replied. Her eyes were glowing pure white and arcs of raw energy were racing around her immobile body like electrons around an atom. Closer and closer they drew to her until in one split second they all converged and such an explosive surge of energy was released with power that rivaled that of a small star going nova. Everything within ten miles was wiped out as the raw energy exploded outwards, turning everything white.

* * *

_

Sephiroth was jolted violently to consciousness by the sounds of Aeris' loud wails. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew that she desperately needed him. He tried to get to his feet only to collapse back on his stomach when he found that his legs wouldn't move. Panic shot through Sephiroth. If he had been paralyzed, then all hope was lost.

Sephiroth flipped over and struggled up to a sitting position. It seemed that he was immobilized only from the waist down. He gave his left leg a strong pinch and cursed when the pain blazed in his leg.

_Ouch! I definitely have feeling in my legs, but I still can't move them. But that doesn't help me at all, _Sephiroth irately thought.

Aeris let out another ear-splitting shriek, bringing Sephiroth quickly back to reality. He rolled himself over back onto his stomach and crawled across the rough stone ground to where Aeris was laying using his arms. He felt humiliated doing it, but his pride was not worth preserving when Aeris was under such duress.

It seemed to take hours before he was finally able to make his way over to the writhing Cetra, but he kept doggedly at it and eventually he reached her side. The moment he got within reach of Aeris his arm muscles gave out and he collapsed back onto the ground, cursing himself for being so weak. A sense of hopelessness settled over Sephiroth, it was only with great difficultly that he was able to push it away and drag himself the last few inches to Aeris.

By now Aeris had stopped shrieking and writhing about and was now piteously whimpering, tears freely flowing down her face. Sephiroth felt his heart break at hearing such heart-wrenching sounds coming from the normally happy Aeris. He ran his hand along her face, tangling his hands in her tear-soaked hair. The distressed warrior-turned-protector looped his arms around Aeris and drew her to his chest where he fiercely embraced her as if to protect her from everything.

"Aeris wake up. I'm here, nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let anything hurt you beloved, so please wake up. It hurts me to see you suffering like this from these nightmares and hallucinations," Sephiroth beseeched earnestly to the weeping healer.

Slowly, oh so achingly slowly, Aeris' bleary, blood-shot eyes opened and latched onto his own worried ones. She took one look at him before she broke out sobbing, burying her face in his chest. Aeris' arms encircled Sephiroth's chest clinging onto him for dear life.

"Sephiroth…I…I…it was…it was so…so horrible," Aeris stammered between sobs, "Jenova…the kids…your broken and battered body… you dying…white everywhere."

Eventually her shudders stopped and her tears dried up. Sephiroth was relieved that she was going to be fine. He wondered what on earth that dream, no nightmare, could have been about.

_What on earth could have caused such a reaction from her? I feel so powerless that I couldn't have protected her from such a horrible thing,_ Sephiroth mournfully thought.

"Jenova, my death, the kids, white everywhere…What does it all mean?" Sephiroth muttered, "Wait! THE KIDS! We had children!"

Sephiroth was baffled about the idea of him ever raising a bunch of brats. Aeris…, Aeris he could easily imagine being a happy mother to a large batch of children. Sephiroth, he hated children, Aeris was just about it when it came to what he could stand in the way of company. There was no way that he would make a good parent. It just couldn't happen.

"I'm just as glad that we don't have kids Aeris, I wouldn't want Jenova to ruin the lives of anyone else. I hardly make good father material anyway," Sephiroth stated.

Aeris found herself readily agreeing with Sephiroth on his first point. As much as she was displeased with his second point, Aeris was grateful for the distraction to the lingering feelings of grief and fury, sorrow and desolation that her dream/predomination of an alternative future had brought her.

"No Sephiroth, I think that with time you would make an excellent father. You protect me so fiercely and love me so much that I have no problems with the idea of you extending those feelings to any children we would have had," Aeris wistfully lamented, the unspoken words _"not that we will ever have children now"_ heavily hanging in the air.

"What a pair of fools we have been," Aeris reflected, "by trying to resist destiny, we only became more entangled in the prophecy. Finding in each other what we had swore we would never do. It only goes to show that every living thing is just a pawn of Lady Fate."

Sephiroth found that he had nothing to say to Aeris' last remark. It was only too true but oh so hurtful to admit.

_Aeris is right, what a pair of idiots we have been. Better if we had never met or been born even,_ Sephiroth sardonically thought.

Both of them felt the futility of their unsuccessful attempt at making their own path, it reverberated back and forth along their connection. As they sunk further and further into depression and hopelessness the voice of the planet whispered into their minds :there is still another option after the inevitable happens, don't give up hope beloved children. There are many ways in which the prophecy that brought you both such misery and joy through finding each other can be interpreted. Remember that though it brings you no solace:

Upon hearing the planet's message Aeris' eyes shot wide open. Sephiroth looked in askance at her.

"I though that it was just a legend! I never thought that it truly existed," Aeris softly exclaimed, "but such a high price must be paid for its use if it were true."

"What is true? What price must be paid? What was the planet referring to Aeris?" Sephiroth asked looking at her intently.

Aeris turned her head away.

"It's best if some things remain unspoken," Aeris responded brokenly, refusing to look Sephiroth in the eye.

Sephiroth let it go, there was no use in trying to pry it out of Aeris. Plus he didn't want to cause her any more discomfort. Instead he tightened his arms around her letting her know that he would always be there for her. It was the only thing he could do for her in his state.

Despair was eating at both of their minds, each of them feeling it from the other across their mental link. They had each other, but for who knows how long? The same forces that had driven them to each other could just as easily rip them apart from each other. But both Aeris and Sephiroth were sure that they wouldn't let that happen without a fight.

With that thought drifting through their minds, the emotionally exhausted lovers drifted off into an uneasy, restless sleep.

* * *

The smell of charred meat and a loud slap that sounded like flesh hitting a hard surface roused Sephiroth and Aeris from their sleep. Aeris had to restrain from throwing up when she looked at what the sound had and the smell was coming from. Sephiroth himself felt slightly nauseous when he got a good look at what had been dumped in front of them.

"How could you do such a thing!" Aeris yelled at alien that had dumped the carcass at their feet.

-Because you need nourishment for the summoning of Meteor and besides I find horse meat especially that of the young ones, to be quite delicious- Jenova voiced with a contemptuous laugh at their reactions.

"You really are a monster," Aeris spat.

"There is no way that I'm going to eat that," Sephiroth stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

-You have no choice in the matter, Sephiroth. You and your little pet Cetra will perform the duty you were born to do with or without your consent.- Jenova taunted.

Sephiroth snorted and flipped her off. His blatant disregard made Jenova mad. It sent Sephiroth a painful headache in retaliation. Aeris could easily feel it over their connection, and wincing she laid a hand on the back of Sephiroth's head, using her healing powers to dispel it. Sephiroth shot her a rare smile and then proceeded to tell Jenova that she could shove her plans of genocide and world destruction where the sun doesn't shine. That really made the alien mad.

-Willing or not you will carry your role in the prophecy and I will get the power I have been waiting over a millennia for. I'm getting tired of your whining, you will eat!- Jenova roared, its mind invading Sephiroth's and through the mental link, Aeris', blocking out everything else and filling them with a ravenous hunger and the compulsion to eat.

Much to their disgust and horror on Aeris' behalf, they found their hands ripping into the flesh of the dead filly and shoving entire handfuls into their mouths. Their bodies were not responding to their commands as they continued to consume the burnt carcass, their minds rebelling at the very act. Between the two of them they devoured over half of the body like starving wolves before the compulsion to gorge themselves lifted.

Aeris was seized with the need to purge herself of the disgusting contents of her stomach the moment the compulsion lifted, but Jenova suppressed the urge forcing her to digest it instead. The warring forces of her body and the pressure Jenova was putting on her mind proved to be too much for the poor healer as she passed out.

While Jenova was forcing them to eat, a distant part of Sephiroth's mind had observed that the immobility placed on his legs lifted so he could get easier access to the meat. But the moment Jenova's compulsion lifted from their minds he found that once again the movement of his legs was taken from him. It filled him with hopeless rage at the thought that Jenova had so much control over him. The fact that he was no more than a puppet for Jenova to play with did not sit well with Sephiroth. What was even worse was that Aeris had been placed in the same position because of the mental and emotional connection the planet had made.

Why would the planet do such a thing? The presence that he had felt in his mind several times now seemed hardly so short-sighted to provide its anthemia the means through which it could carry out its plans. Why on earth would it secure the means of its destruction just to insure the happiness of two individuals? Even more so when any such happiness that their bond could have brought them was doomed to be so short lived. _Poor Aeris_ Sephiroth thought _she most of all never deserved to suffer like this._

-You think too much Sephiroth- the scaly voice of Jenova drifted into his mind –despite your foolish, sentimental, human heart that turned you against your destiny and me, I created your body very well. Your genes and body are flawless, the perfect weapon and tool to carry out your purpose.-

-The only flaw I made in creating you was giving you too much free will,- Jenova continued, -but it was necessary for you to have it if you were to be able to ensnare the girl in my control. Such fools the two of you are, I offer you unlimited power, godhood itself, and you reject it for the irrational human emotion called "love". Still, I shall immensely enjoy forcing you to use the Black Matera to summon Meteor when the time is right.-

"Fuck off bitch," Sephiroth snapped.

-Your feeble antics amuse me Sephiroth, but I believe it is time you joined the Cetra in sleep. You will need to be well rested for the summoning of Meteor, I would be very displeased if you perished in the attempt- Jenova drawled.

With that Jenova entered Sephiroth's mind and snapped the connection between his waking mind and unconsciousness and he dropped like a rag to the cave floor.

* * *

Strangely enough, Sephiroth's and Aeris' dreams were not filled with omens of fire and destruction. Instead the two of were flying through the stars, bright silver and green light surrounding them as they shot through the cosmos holding hands. The music of the stars and the other heavenly bodies filled their minds as they basked in their each other's love that flowed across their soul connection. Their eyes were filled with wonder as they explored the beauty of the universe together just like the ancient Cetra did so many millennia ago. Somewhere out there in the vastness of space a great destiny awaited them but for now they were content in just being in each other's presence, after all they had all of eternity to get their destination. Sephiroth smiled at Aeris and she smiled back at him in return as they shot off deeper into the infinity of space.

* * *

A sudden burst of energy ripping through their minds abruptly brought Aeris and Sephiroth reeling back to consciousness. A strange buzzing filled their ears while an oddly familiar wave of dizziness rippled through Sephiroth's mind. It took him several moments to recall where he had felt this sensation the first time. _This is the exact same feeling I had when I had that sudden attack that drove me to consume so much of the lifestream saturated water back in the Valley!_ Sephiroth thought, _it was Jenova trying to invade my mind that caused the planet to drive me with such ravenous thirst to find that stream._

_It was trying to protect me from Jenova the whole time!_ Sephiroth's eyes widened with that revelation.

_But now any defenses Gaia was placing around my mind have been stripped by that alien, _Sephiroth realized with a frown, _it was like they never existed in the first place._

Meanwhile Aeris was trying to clear her mind from a massive migraine that Jenova's presence in her mind had lefther. Her head throbbed and her ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. She tried to reach out to the planet to help relieve her pain, but the connection was being blocked. _Three guesses on who is doing that and the first two don't count_ Aeris miserably thought, _what a mess my life has turned out to be_. Not wanting to sink any further into her self-pity, Aeris shook herself out of her thoughts and for the first time since she had become aware of her state of Jenova-induced powerlessness she raised her head to get her bearings.

"By the planet…" Aeris trailed off, getting Sephiroth's attention.

"Where are we?" she asked faintly.

Sephiroth took this moment to look around as well. Their present location was certainly what one would not call charming. What little light that made it down to the bottom of the huge chasm they were in did little to illuminate the area around them. From what his enhanced vision could make out of the gloom was that they were at the bottom of a huge and very deep crater. The walls of the pit sloped up sharply for over three thousand feet, broken occasionally by random outcroppings of sharp and jagged rocks before they ended abruptly in an uneven, ragged fringe, creating a vast ten mile wide opening showing the dim sky overhead. The floor of the crater was broken and uneven, cracks and deep fissures running across the entire length creating disjointed platforms of different heights.

Leaning over Sephiroth could make out the faint traces of the lifestream swirling about in the bottoms of the fissures. The whole scene gave Sephiroth the notion that the ground formed a thin, cracked shell that covered a huge pool of mako below them similar to a scab over a wound. Other than the very faint glow of the lifestream from the depths of the fissures there were no other signs of life in the crater aside from him and Aeris. He didn't count Jenova as being a living thing, more like a malicious virus or a malignant tumor than anything else.

Sephiroth told Aeris of his conclusions, not liking the grim look that came into her eyes as he did so. He had a bad feeling that Aeris knew exactly where they were and their location didn't bode well for them at all.

True to Sephiroth's predictions, Aeris did know where Jenova had taken them and she didn't like that fact or their position this place put them in one bit. A feeling of old pain and dejectedness settled over them as Aeris opened her mouth to speak.

"Have you ever heard of the Northern Crater?" Aeris asked in a grim voice.

"Yes I have, it was supposedly the place where a comet crashed onto the planet over a thousand years ago," Sephiroth answered with a dark tone.

"Not a comet, but a meteor," Aeris corrected, "this was the landing site of the meteor that was summoned when the Black Matera was first used. This is where the Calamity from the Skies crashed into the planet and wrecked havoc among my ancestors so many centuries ago. The planet has yet to heal from the massive wound Jenova inflicted on it from its impact."

"What an appropriate place to summon Meteor from using the Black Matera," Sephiroth commented with dark humor.

-Indeed it is the most suitable spot for where you will fulfill your purpose- Jenova cut in.

"Who asked you anyway demon?" Sephiroth icily asked.

"Buzz off," Aeris moodily added.

Jenova sent them the equivalent of a mental smack at them.

-I will not tolerate any more impudence from the two of you- Jenova tartly responded –it is time.-

"What the hell makes you think that we will help you?" Sephiroth shot.

-As I said before, you have no choice in the matter- Jenova snarled, seizing control of their bodies without warning.

Jerkily they rose to their feet and drifted over to Jenova, moving like automatons. With out ceremony Jenova dropped the Black Matera into Sephiroth's stiffly outstretched hand, his other one holding Aeris' in a death grip. Pure hatred and loathing were shinning in Sephiroth's eyes as he glared at Jenova while Aeris, with angry, frustrated tears flowing down her face unwillingly placed her other hand on top of the black sphere.

Jenova then drew on the power of Sephiroth to awaken the Black Matera and to force its magic to obey Jenova's will. Then through the mental bond, the alien drew on Aeris' powers to fuel the Black Matera in casting of its one spell, not bothering to shield either one form the pain that the withdrawal of their energies inflicted on Aeris and Sephiroth. All too soon Aeris and Sephiroth's energies were being depleted to dangerous levels whereupon Jenova started drawing on the energy of the lifestream using Aeris as a conduit that flowed through the connection into the Black Matera.

Even with that extra power pouring into the dark spell, Jenova was fighting to complete it, the resistance Sephiroth and Aeris were putting up not helping the alien in the least bit. Getting tired of the fight the two were putting up, Jenova swamped their minds with hers sweeping away their own individualities and immersing them in her own. With the last barrier between Jenova and the power of the planet destroyed the alien kept on pouring in energy so fast that within a few moments the matera had absorbed enough power to let loose its devastating spell and the summons for Meteor shot off into space.

The moment the summoning was complete, Jenova let go of the minds and powers of Aeris and Sephiroth, leaving the two to crumple bonelessly to the floor as their minds had shut down the moment Jenova smothered their wills with her own. Their energies were completely depleted, but that fact didn't perturb the Calamity from the Skies at all. As long as they still lived, its plans could continue on unhindered, no matter the state they were in. It would take them a long time to recover, but that suited Jenova's plans just fine. As long as they survived it didn't matter what their present condition was in the long run.

Nothing could stop her now, Jenova mentally smirked. Her little puppets did just as they were told and would continue to do so. But the effort of controlling their minds and drawing on their powers had exhausted the Calamity form the Skies and so for the first time in many decades it slipped into a state of dormancy equivalent to a death-like sleep for the alien.

* * *

The moment dire spell was released from the Black Matera, every animal on the planet suddenly let loose with loud, terrible cries of absolute terror. Every human felt a horrible sense of doom settle on their souls as children let loose ear-splitting wails, their parents not being able to do anything to calm them. Cries of "the end is upon us!" and "the prophecy has come true" filled the air as the very planet itself trembled in fear. The only thing that anyone could do now was to wait for destruction to rain from the heavens and pray for a miracle and their own personal salvation.

* * *

All was unnaturally quiet in the depths of the Northern Crater. Not a soul moved to break the eerie silence that had descended upon the place. Two forms lay next to each other still as death. They hung onto life by a bare thread as the planet slowly, painstakingly nursed them and fed them the barest trickle of energy that it painfully was able to bring up. Time seemed to flow on by without notice as the two lay in their comatose like state. Slowly, ever so painstakingly slowly their energy levels rose till they were high enough so that they could survive on their own.

At that point the planet could have stopped giving them its own life-force and they would have managed to survive, but it still continued to strengthen Aeris' and Sephiroth's worn physical bodies at its own expense. What seemed like an eternity later two pairs of dim green eyes cracked open, vague wonderment filtering through their minds that they were still alive. Relief simultaneously flashed through each of their minds when Sephiroth and Aeris both realized that the other was still alive through their mental connection.

They had so little energy that they could barely move, but somehow they forced their leaden limbs to move so that their fingers were touching. Moving an inch at a time, their fingers curled about each other, their hands drawing into a loose grip with the other. Even that small action seemed to take an enormous amount of mental will and energy, leaving both of them utterly spent. A smile curved at the corner of Aeris' lips while Sephiroth's face relaxed into a contented expression as they both dropped off into unconsciousness again.

* * *

Hours later, the Calamity from the Skies came out of its state of dormancy and uncurled from the grotesque mockery of the fetal position it had been in. Its energy levels were still under halfway full, but that didn't stop it the cruel smile that came over its face when it saw Aeris and Sephiroth out cold holding hands.

-How pitifully adorable those two are. They are so sweet with each other that it makes my teeth rot- Jenova crankily thought –still I am very pleased that they are alive, much to their misfortune. All the effort I had put in getting these two ready for their ultimate purpose would have been wasted if they died.-

With a weary sigh Jenova rose up into the air and left the crater to go off hunting to replenish more its energy. It had slaughtered and devoured several artic deer from a small herd before it felt close to what it had been before Meteor had been called.

Dark, evil laughter rang in Jenova's mind and echoed across the desolate landscape as it looked up at the sky and saw the far off blazing mass rushing towards the planet. Soon, very soon Meteor would crash onto the planet and then Jenova and her puppets would absorb all the life-force of the planet causing them to transcend death itself and turning the Calamity from the Skies into an all-powerful being. Then Jenova's true conquest of all existence would begin.

* * *

Aeris woke to a horribly bitter substance dripping into her mouth and oozing down the back of her throat. The reaction to this foreign substance was immediate, Aeris erupted into a violent fit of coughing to dispel the awful stuff from her body, but it stubbornly kept on trickling down her throat into her stomach. A wave of nausea swept over her as her body tried another way of ejecting the obtrusive slime from her. Gagging, she sat up and was about to vomit when the presence of Jenova filled her mind and absentmindedly squashed the reflex.

The sound of Sephiroth coming to suddenly impacted on Aeris's fogged mind, clearing it. Quickly she jumped to her feet, only to fall down again when a wave of pain fired across her recovering body. Crawling on her hands and knees, she slowly made her way over to Sephiroth who by now had recovered his wits.

Sephiroth watched almost detachedly as Aeris crawled over to him and collapsed in his arms, trembling weakly. He absentmindedly ran the tips of his fingers down her left cheek and gently started rubbing circles on her back with his other hand. The only thing that his hazy mind could comprehend was that for some reason they were both still alive and functioning. The amount of energy that Jenova had withdrawn from them should have killed them, but for reasons unfathomable, they didn't and had even recovered enough energy that they could regain consciousness and could think coherently.

"I can't get out that nasty stuff that is in my mouth," Aeris wearily complained, "makes me want to puke."

It dimly registered in Sephiroth's mind that he too could taste the rotten stuff dripping into his stomach as well. But unlike Aeris, he knew what this slime was. There was one time when he had been a small child that he got stranded on a cliff-face for over a week before Jenova had come to retrieve her errant offspring. By the time it got there, Sephiroth was feverish, severely dehydrated and half-starved. Jenova had nursed him for four days straight before he could get back on his own two feet, feeding him some nasty sludge colored concoction that she had produced from her body. The stuff was packed with nutrients, vitamins and antibodies for the pathogen that was causing his fever. It was also chalk full of simple proteins and easily digestible sugars and fatty acids that his body needed to recover.

_Why is that thing force-feeding us this goop? By all rights we should be long past our expiration date, Jenova has no use for us now that Meteor has been summoned, _Sephiroth thought.

"What is this slime?" Aeris asked, exasperated.

"You don't want to know," Sephiroth told her grimacing.

Aeris tried once more, to expunge the stuff from her stomach, rather unsuccessfully, only managing to make unpleasant gagging noises instead. Sephiroth sighed heavily, there were times where it took awhile for Aeris to catch onto things and this looked like it was one of those instances. As much as he agreed with her sentiments, there was not much either of them could do in the given circumstances. For one, neither of them could even stand up let alone walk, even staying in a semi-upright sitting position was draining. He had no idea how Aeris had even mustered the energy to get over to him in the first place. There was no way that Jenova would stop shoving this glop into them until they were at least able to walk using his past experiences as examples.

"Ugh. I feel awful," Aeris moaned, flipping over so that she was lying against his chest.

"You look worse," Sephiroth added unhelpfully.

"No better than you do sunshine," Aeris grumbled, irritated.

Sephiroth didn't even bother to smirk, he was feeling too wretched to want to put out the effort for it. His arms that he was using to prop himself up suddenly buckled and he hit the ground letting out a painful "oof", taking Aeris with him.

"Did you have to do that?" Aeris groaned.

"Only for you," he grumbled.

"Wonder when its repulsiveness will make its presence known?" Aeris asked, not wanting to receive an answer.

"Don't know, don't care," Sephiroth offhandedly replied.

"I want to die," she moaned.

"Under the present circumstances, I wouldn't mind joining you," he mumbled as his head started to dully throb.

-The two of you amuse me. But as much as you want pass on, that can't be happening yet- Jenova said, deciding to make its opinion heard.

"Let us rest in peace," Aeris mumbled, hoping to pass out.

-Much as you annoy me Cetra, your continued existence still serves me a purpose.-

"What, as a punching bag?" Aeris asked wearily her voice heavy with sarcasm.

-An entertaining idea, but no. What point is there to being all-powerful if there is nothing to use it on?-

"Great, so you want to drag others into our misery," Sephiroth scoffed.

-Someday my son you will learn to keep that mouth of yours shut. You don't need to be able to speak for what I have in mind for you.- Jenova snapped, Sephiroth's quip getting under its skin.

"More torture, lovely," Sephiroth shot back, crossly.

-You would do well to not be insolent Sephiroth, I can make things very painful for you and your pet Cetra.-

"More than they are right now?" Aeris grumbled.

-I wonder how much Sephiroth would like you if you were a gibbering idiot Cetra?- Jenova threatened.

"She'd still be better company than you would," Sephiroth spoke up.

-If I didn't need you for producing my new subjects I would kill the both of you on the spot!- Jenova yelled, its voice crashing into their minds.

Aeris' body instantly grew rigid while Sephiroth's eyes flashed dangerously, cold anger broadcasting across his connection with Aeris.

"Do what you want with us, but leave Aeris' children out of this," Sephiroth growled, his voice laced with deadly menace.

-Looks like I hit a sore spot- Jenova sneered.

"I will die before I let you force your will on any children we may have," Aeris softly stated, dead serious.

-Quite the contrary Cetra!- Jenova callously laughed –I will ensure that the two of you survive to produce hundreds of offspring for my purposes. Using my son's DNA and the genes of the Cetra, I will create a new indestructible race through the two of you. It is an honor that I'm letting you be the mother of the most superior race next to me.-

"Drop dead you abomination!" Aeris yelled.

Jenova only laughed while Sephiroth tightened his arms around Aeris to keep her from blindly attacking the alien in her rage. He was barely holding his own anger, his instincts yelling at him to remove this threat from the only person who he cared for and who cared for him in return. That didn't stop him for reaching out to see if his sword was around. How he would love to shove Masamune right down that vile demon's mouth and split it from head to toe (not that Jenova had any toes of which to cut to…).

"So you would treat us as nothing as breeding stock like you treated that human that you stole his genetic information from to 'give birth' to me?" Sephiroth furiously demanded.

-Don't put yourself at that creature's level, you are far superior to the humans my son even if you are half-human- Jenova drawled.

"Don't call me that, I'm no son of yours. I have no parents as far as I'm concerned," Sephiroth snarled.

-Again your antics amuse me. But I tire of this petty bickering. I have better things to do than to listen to you spew out hot air. I would advise you to get some rest, for your transformation when Meteor hits will be very painful and taxing- Jenova commanded.

Before either Aeris or Sephiroth could get in any word edgewise, Jenova sent a sharp surge of energy at them that froze the mobility of their entire lower bodies again. Sephiroth cursed loudly while Aeris let out a startled exclamation. Their protests fell on deaf ears since Jenova had slipped into a state of deep hibernation, becoming oblivious to the world.

"Bitch," Sephiroth spat as his temper started cooling down.

"We have to do something, we can't let her carry out her goals," Aeris firmly concluded.

"In case you haven't noticed Aeris," Sephiroth pointed out, "for all purposes we're rooted to this spot and there is nothing around us that could be of any use to us."

At that very moment, the ground around them started gently trembling as if a slumbering bear was just waking up from its winter hibernation and was digging its way out of its burrow. The shaking got stronger and stronger, the dim, barely seen light from the glowing lifestream deep down in the cracks in the ground growing brighter and brighter until a geyser of mako shot up ten feet into the air right in front of them. As suddenly as it started, the rumbling stopped and the lifestream retreated, a light ping echoing off the walls of the crater as a small crystal hit the floor and wobbled around till it came to a rest at their feet.

Straining heavily, Aeris bent over and picked up the kiwi-sized orb, a gasp of astonishment escaping her mouth as she got a good look at it.

"The planet went to so much trouble to give us this tiny rock?" Sephiroth asked incredulously.

"Not just any rock," Aeris murmured awestruck, "I thought that this was only a legend. The White Matera, containing within it the spell for calling Holy."

"Holy?" he echoed.

"Yes, with this, we can summon Holy, the only thing that might stop Meteor's descent," Aeris clarified.

"What's the catch?" Sephiroth asked.

"Jenova drew on too much of the planet's power when it used us to summon Meteor. Just the effort of delivering the White Matera to us left it exhausted. If we were to use this, we would be on our own. Gaia cannot provide us any support for this. The energy cost of summoning Holy could very well rip our souls to pieces," Aeris explained, "it might not even work either."

"Its not worth the risk," Sephiroth declared.

"What!" Aeris asked bewildered.

"Why should we sacrifice ourselves for these worthless humans that could care less if we lived or died?" he angrily demanded.

"How can you be so selfish!" Aeris shrieked reacting instantly, "you would let this planet and all of the life on it be destroyed so that you can live? I can't believe that I'm hearing this from you! I thought that you had come to appreciate value of life. Now to hear you saying that you are willing to throw all that you've gained away for a miserable existence under the control of the Calamity form the Skies, I can't stand it! What right do you have to dictate who lives and who dies? You are no better than Jenova if you think that!"

"I have not gone through all this hardship and suffering just to loose you now through some foolish, half-baked attempt at martyrdom!" Sephiroth yelled, fighting the urge to throttle the furious Cetra.

Aeris sat there stunned by his declaration.

"All my life, and for the majority of yours for that matter, I've gotten nothing but grief from the humans and the planet has done little to remedy that," he continued, "What loyalty do I owe those worthless brutes! They hunted me, almost succeeded at killing me several times and your god-bedammmed planet has done little to nothing to prevent it. Now for the first time in my life I have a shot at happiness and now you're asking me to throw it all away for the very race that wants us dead! I thought that you had more sense than that Aeris!"

"Damn you," Aeris exclaimed hot, angry tears running down her face, "Damn you! You selfish, egotistical bastard! It seems that the man I fell in love with has ceased to exist. All that is left is this self-centered cruel mockery of a decent person that no longer cares about what happens to others!"

"Fuck that! I'm not letting you go, so what if that makes me a selfish bastard. I don't care! The human race rot in hell for all I care, but I'm not letting the woman I love get herself killed in an attempt to summon Holy that might not even work!" Sephiroth shouted.

"Selfish, insensitive bastard, I don't know why I even fell in love with you in the first place! You would condemn me and our future children to a fate worse than death just so you can keep me by your side? I want more nothing to do with you!" Aeris screeched, turning her back on Sephiroth.

"Fine, be that way!" he childishly snapped turning his back towards her as well, "but either way I'm not letting you use that thing."

_We'll see about that!_ Aeris rebelliously thought.

* * *

A sense of something being not right snapped Sephiroth out of his light doze. It only took a moment to figure out what was wrong. The noticeable lack of an angry Aeris was the first thing that he observed, slightly panicking. Less obvious was the fact that the White Matera was missing as well, leading Sephiroth to the obvious conclusion that she had run off with it to summon Holy no doubt. Now while that observation did indeed make him royally pissed that she had _once again_ deliberately defied him he was much too worried to let his anger cloud his judgment.

Sephiroth probed for Aeris through their mental bond, but much to his dismay he found that she was doing an effective job of blocking his attempts to feel her mood. He was surprised that she even knew how to block him out, but no matter how good she was at raising mental shields, Sephiroth was better at getting past them. It didn't take him long to find a hole in her defenses that she hadn't been aware of. As soon as he had located the spot, he slipped in only to find her mind a mess of fear, grim determination, lingering doubts, blazing anger (no doubt still directed at him), fierce resolve and deep sadness. Overshadowing all those turbulent, whirling emotions was the blaze of power coming from deep within Aeris that was being steadily summoned and forced out of her body into something else.

Struggling to his feet, fighting off Jenova's spell of immobility that she had cast on him as well as his own rebellious body, Sephiroth hobbled his way across the broken and uneven ground towards where the blaze of power that Aeris was, one painful, shuffling step at a time. What seemed like hours later the figure of a kneeling Aeris, her hands tightly gripping the White Matera near her heart, came into view. Her profile was outlined by pinks wisps of her life-force that she was pouring into the White Matera. As he approached her any actions he would have taken were blown out of the water by the calm, emotionless words that poured out of her mouth.

"Don't try to stop the spell. I've gone past the point of no return, if I were to be interrupted the backlash of the failed spell would instantly incinerate the both of us on the spot," she spoke in an impassive voice as if she was not in touch with her surroundings.

"As it is, my energy is failing fast. I cannot last much longer. If you wish to come out of this alive step back and let the spell run its course. When my supply of energy finally is exhausted, the summons will die with me, the energy that has been built up in the White Matera will simply dissipate into the air harmlessly."

Sephiroth felt like his soul was shattering when Aeris' words of warning impacted on his ears. There was nothing he could to stop this he instinctively knew. He had come too late, no matter what happened, he would loose her. If things continued on as they were the summons for Holy would fail and Jenova's ascent to godhood would continue on uninterrupted. When it woke up to find Aeris dead, the alien would most likely kill him in its rage at loosing the last Cetra, but that still wouldn't prevent the fact that because of his unwillingness to let Aeris do what was necessary he had allowed an entire planet, full of life be destroyed.

It was in terrible hindsight that Sephiroth realized that he had seriously overreacted when Aeris had announced that to summon Holy they would have to sacrifice their lives. He would be dammed if he let Aeris die now with her last moments of life being spent in anguish and regret over his stupid and childish argument he had drawn her into. Besides there was no point in his continued existence if Aeris wasn't in it. If she was willing to sacrifice her life for her beloved planet (Sephiroth refused to think that she was doing it for the miserable humans) he would swallow his pride and join her. If anything, it was the least he could do for her for showing him such kindness. He didn't want her to die thinking that he was angry with her or that he didn't love her.

Sinking down to his knees in front of her, Sephiroth gently took her hands in his, reached deep down in his body and opened the gates to the swirling energies that were locked deep within. Aeris feeling the new input of energy being fed into the globe cracked open her eyes to see Sephiroth kneeling in front of her, a soft smile spreading across her face. Her eyes shone with sad understanding and loving forgiveness.

"Thank you," she whispered as her eyes closed once more, directing her attention to pouring the last remains of her life energy into the spell.

They were pouring all of their power and determination into the spell and for awhile it seemed to be working, but eventually the strength of the growing spell started to falter. Despair flashed across their mental bond quickly, but both shoved it away not letting it weaken their resolve in performing their final task.

Aeris was fighting to not loose consciousness and slip into what for her would be her last sleep when a strange, surreal calm descended upon her. As her grip on life faded, her awareness grew and she became aware for the first time in her life the white-hot glowing core of energy that was buried deep within the center of her soul. In what seemed like a ridiculously easy gesture Aeris gripped the hot, glowing sphere with her mind and let its energy blast through her body into the White Matera. The effects were immediate, the white glow that had previously fading rapidly from the milky orb abruptly grew in strength till it was shinning as bright as the full moon. The intensity of the light only grew when Sephiroth found deep within himself a similar energy and released it from his soul into the spell. The only difference that was between the two was that his was a deep emerald green whereas Aeris' was molten silver.

The bright burning pain that their bodies were experiencing as they were feeding their very soul energy into the summoning was forgotten as an incredible sense of euphoria grew within their minds and souls. Their physical forms were practically pure energy as this happened, and even that was being fed into the spell. As their bodies faded out entirely, Aeris and Sephiroth felt wild joy as they reached the threshold energy level that needed to be passed for the spell to be completed.

Their physical forms gone, their consciousness still existed in the swirling mass of energy that was in the White Matera as it dropped to the ground with a slight ping. The moment it touched the ground, Holy was released from the brightly burning orb as Meteor barely entered the planet's atmosphere. As the massive spell launched heavenward, carrying the souls of the two that had fed their life-forces into Holy, it incinerated every trace of the two that had been there for so little time, including the unmoving form of the Calamity from the Skies.

Their love for each other burning bright, the spiritual forms of Sephiroth and Aeris flying with Holy rushed up to do battle with Meteor holding each other's hands tightly. A tremendous crash raced across the planet's surface as Holy impacted with Meteor, the shock resounding in the inner cores of every living thing on the face of the planet as the forces of destruction and light battled in the sky trying to wipe the other out.

* * *

Across the Galain Ocean on the other side of the world in the military recreation town of Couldren, while all the rest of the adults were scurrying for shelter one little girl stared heavenward watching the mighty battle rage in the dark, moonless night sky. Little Tina distractedly rubbed the faint scar on her arm that had been healed by magic all those long months ago as she saw the blinding white light rush up from the north and meet the huge burning rock that was falling towards the planet's surface dead-on in a ground-shaking, tremendous explosion. Her eyes widened as she faintly made out two brightly burning dots shimmering in the very center of the pure-white light, one as green as new life, the other pure silver like the full moon.

* * *

The forces of Holy and Meteor raged against each other in the black sky all night long, neither one giving the other any ground. Finally as the barest hints of false dawn spread across the eastern horizon, the white magic slowly started pushing the now much diminished falling Meteor slightly back away from it crash course with the planet. With the force of Holy rapidly diminishing, it consumed the blazing mass of Meteor pushing the hunk of space rock further and further away from the planet. As the sky over the eastern mountains just started turning pink, the last vestiges of Holy dispersed, leaving no trace that Meteor had ever existed.

Squinting Tina could barely make out the green and silver specks in the pre-dawn sky shoot off into space, leaving the planet that they had called home for so long behind them. It was at that moment that planet let out a tremendous sorrowful wail that echoed in the deepest parts of the souls of the humans across its surface. It was mourning the loss of it two cherished children that had sacrificed everything for the very race of beings that wished that the Cetran maiden and her devoted lover had never been born.

After standing watching Meteor and Holy battle all night Tina finally sunk to her knees filled with indescribable sadness for the loss of her friend, the pretty herbalist that had shown her kindness when no one else had. Tears spilled out of her eyes and dropped to the ground. Across the world every other human sunk to the ground weeping for the planet's loss, the first time in their entire lives being in direct contact with the living force of Gaia itself. None could tell why they felt such overwhelming sorrow from the planet or for what purpose it was for, except for one little girl with pale green eyes that were so similar to the ones of the saviors of the planet.

* * *

_As one door closes, another opens. As one destiny ends, another unfolds. Their roles in the Prophecy on Gaia fulfilled, the two reborn souls flew off into space rushing towards a great destiny among the stars in the far reaches of space. The music of the heavens __filled their minds as they basked in their love for each other. Their eyes were filled with wonder as they explored the beauty of the universe together just like the ancient Cetra did so many millennia ago._

The end?

* * *

Wow. It's finally over. I hope all of you enjoyed reading Children of Prophecy, I certainly enjoyed writing it. I learned so much about not only myself as I translated this daydream I had come up with years ago into the written word. I feel that my writing skills have increased greatly since I started this fic so very long ago. I know that this chapter wasn't as long as the last one and that the general trend of this story was in progressively longer chapters, but I found that it didn't need to be any longer than it is.

My heartfelt thanks goes out to all my reviewers and fans of this story. But just because this story has concluded, don't let that stop you from leaving your comments on your experiences and thoughts you had while reading Children of Prophecy and leaving your opinions of this chapter and the story as a whole. Tell me everything, I want to know!

Reviews, like tips, are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. But without them, both writers and waiters find life a lot harder to survive in.


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